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KIDDER'S GUIDE 



TO 



APIARIAN SCIENCE. 



BEING A 



PRACTICAL TREATISE, 



IN EVERY DEPARTMENT OF 



BEE CULTURE AID BEE MANAGEMENT. 



EMBRACING 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BEE, FROM THE EARLIEST 
PERIOD OF THE WORLD, DOWN TO THE PRESENT 
TIME ; GIVING THE ANATOMY AND PHYSIOL- 
OGY OF THE DIFFERENT SPECIES OF 
BEES THAT CONSTITUTE A 
COLONY, &c. 



By K. P. KIDDER, 






BURLINGTON, VT . 
SAMUEL B. NICHOLS, 146 CHURCH STREET. 

Chicago — rufus blanchard, 52 la salle street. 

* 1858. 






■J> c ^ 







OZ/ KIDDER'S GUIDE 









g/APIABIM SCIENCE^ 





Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by 

K. P. KIDDER, 

16 the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Disrict cf Vermont. 






BEE TRAINING- 



Introduction of a New System of Bee Management, 



BY K. P. KIDDER. 

I am well aware that the public have been grossly deceiv- 
ed, and many times swindled out of much money, in the pur- 
chase of Patent Bee Hives which, in many instances, have 
been more of a curse than a profit, in Apiarian pursuits. It 
is absolutely necessary for the bee-keeper to have a partial 
knowledge of the instincts and habits of bees, before he will 
be able to manage and train them successfully. Bees have 
been kept for hundreds of years. We have knowledge and 
the history of them for more than 2200 years, and that they 
were then kept with success among the most scientific histo- 
rians ; although there have been many and useful improve- 
ments made since that time. If the bee-keeper will follow 
the directions laid down in this circular and book, he can 
keep, handle and train bees with success. The time has 
come when, through the knowledge and experience of the 
Author, a complete revolution will take place in the manage- 
ment and culture of the honey bee, as all difficulties that 
have heretofore pertained to bees have been successfully 
overcome. When we can be profited by the experience of 
men who have spent almost their whole lives in the culture 
of the bee; in performing their many costly experiments, 
watching their movements through a glass hive until blind- 
ness was the result, which has been the case with some of our 
most celebrated naturalists. We know that much depends, 
in the culture and management of bees, upou the kind of hive 
the Apiarian makes use of. I am aware there are hundreds 



4 

of Lives now in use, of different kinds, and some of them 
are better adapted for bees to die in than to flourish and 
live. I have used many kinds of hives, in the course of my 
apiarian pursuits, and have invented several hives within a 
few years. I have sought and aimed to have a hive so con- 
structed that it would meet the demands of the bees, as well 
as the convenience of their owner. My last improvement, I 
think, will come as near to perfection as any hive now patent- 
ed, and for general use and practicability, it has no superior. 
I will almost challenge the World to produce a hive that will 
equal it in every department of bee culture and management. 
I will here give the reader a few of the advantages this hive 
possesses over the generality of hives : 

1. It is more condensed and takes up less room, consider- 
ing its capacity, than any other hive. 
- 2. It can be opened any season of the year without annoy- 
ing the bees in the least. 

3. The combs, honey and bees can be taken out of the 
hive at any season of the year, and put back again, and the 
hive brushed out if desired, in five minutes time. 

4. It is a swarming, or a non-swarming hive ; it is a good 
summer as well as a winter hive ; one hive, or two hives, at 
the option of the Apiarian. See Chapter on Hives, in Book, 
for a full description of it. 

5. When in winter quarters, there is a dead air space en- 
circling the whole colony, and such a thing as frost and ice 
cannot enter,when occupied properly, as is the case with oth- 
er hives. 

6. It is one of the best hives in use for feeding bees, as it 
« can be done safely anytime of the year, and no other colony 

will know of it. 

7. It will winter bees we^l, either out of doors or in the 
' house. 



5 

8v The honey can be made in cards weighing from six fc©«* 
eight pounds each, or in boxes, tumblers or any other recep- , 
tacle the bee-keeper chooses. 

9. It will enable the bee-master to multiply his colonies 
rapidly, or compel them to make honey instead of breeding. 

10. The Apiarian can take the best part of the honey from 
the hive, and supply the deficiency by an inferior article for 
the bees' winter use. 

11. It will allow the bee-master to double or treble his bees . 
any time he chooses, or divide a swarm and make two of it 
any time in the honey season. 

12. The comb can be furnished to the bees from other • 
hives/ should the Apiarian have spare comb. . 

13. It can be transported from place to place by stage,.; i 
steamboat or other conveyance. It also furnishes the great • | 
est possible security against the ravages of the bee-moth. 

14. Drones can be prevented from hatching, or killed off in ; 
a day or two, should there be any in the hive. 

15. When a colony have lost their Qneen they can be sup- • 
plied with another one. The Queen can be caught in three , 
minutes, any time, and should there not be a Queen, it can : 
be ascertained in the same length of time, 

16. The bee-master can swarm his bees artificially, or let 
them swarm naturally. The bees can be prevented from run- 
ning away after a swarm is hived in it. The drone-killer, or 
regulator, will prevent bees from robbing, generally, and my 
newly invented bee-catcher will prevent robbing, effectually, . 
as the bee-master can catch every bee that troubles his hive, ; 
or take a swarm of bees from a tree and not know where the ; 
tree is situated. Should the reader have any doubt of the 
truth of these statements, let him call upon the Inventor, and 
be satisfied of the fact that these assertions are true, in ev- i 
cry re§pect. 



6 

^Ftte question is often asked, how many pounds of honey a 
swarm of bees will make in one season. As so much de^ 
pends upon circumstances, it is rather a hard question to an 
swer> but I will endeavor to answer it. If it is a large, 
healthy swarm, commence in the spring by giving them a 
non-swarming hive, to prevent there being any drones, (the 
male bee, which never makes a drop of honey, but consumes 
it rapidly,) and if it is a good season for bees and proper care 
and attention are bestowed upon them, they will make nearly 
three hundred pounds of honey. I have a colony that has 
made upwards of two hundred pounds this year, 1858, by 
giving them a non-swarming hive, and without any extra care 
and attention, It is almost incredible how fast bees: will; 
ma^e honey, when everything is favorable. I have ha4 
th em store up ten or twelve pounds in aday. We have in 
formation showing that they have made as high as eighteen 
pounds in one day. 

By this system of management, bees, comb, and all, can 
be removed any month m the year, from the common hive to 
my compound hive. (See book for particulars.) The trans- 
fer can be made by any person, in SO or 40 minutes, after 
reading the directions. 

Persons whose bees do not prosper or do well, can, by 
calling on or writing to the subscriber, have them examined, 
and the trouble, whatever it may be, rectified. 

This hive is very simple in its construction, and any one 
can build them if they only have the necessary tools. Our 
agent will call on the different bee-keepers in the country, as 
soon as practicable ; the price of the non-swarming hive com- 
plete, will be $7,50 ; the price of the single or swarming 
hive, will be $6,00. The price of an Individual Bight to 
make and use for himself exclusively, will be $5,00, but if the 
hive and right are purchased together, for the double % hive 
$12,00, and for the single hive and right, $10,00. Most peo- 



7 

pie prefer the whole, as then they will be entitled to a finfr 
drawing of the whole thing, with directions and measure- 
ments for their manufacture. 

We also have Glass Hives that are adapted to a store, 
office, or parlor. These, with the right to rxanufacture for 
private or individual purposes, will be $12,00; State, County, 
and Township Rights, for sale at reasonable prices. Gentle- 
men, particularly those from the country, are requested to 
accept of a few of the circulars for distribution in their re- 
spective neighborhoods, 

The reader will please preserve this circular and after 
reading pass it to his neighbor. All persons interested in 
the culture of the honey bee, would find it greatly to tbeil* 
advantage to purchase the book, (Kidder's Guide to Apiari- 
an science,) which contains nearly 17,5. pages, and is a com- 
plete guide to bee-keepers in all the various departments of 
bee-culture. Price 50 cents ; if sent by mail, the postage, 
(seven cents) will be added. The publishers and author can. 
furnish the books at wholesale or retail, if desired ; a liberal 
discount to the trade. The price of the full bound book is 
75 cents ; when sent by mail, including postage, 87 cents, or 
29 postage stamps. All money or stamps at our risk if the 
letter is registered. 

The inventor of these hives is now making arrangements 
to issue a Monthly Bee Journal, each number to contain 32 
pages, and embellished with numerous engravings. It will 
be devoted exclusively to the Honey Bee and its Culture and 
Management. The terms of subscription will be $1,00 pel 
annum, payable on receipt of the first number. It will be 
edited and conducted by a gentleman who is thoroughly 
posted up in Entomology in all its various branches. The 
proprietor will spare no pains to have the Journal got up in 
a way and mariner that will command respect and patronage 
generally. 



The proprietor is well aware that a Journal of this char- 
acter is very much needed at the present time, as there is not 
one published in the United States, although there are seve- 
ral in Germany, France, and England. This is a deplorable 
state of affairs, and we trust the time is not far distant when 
Bee Culture will be far in advance of what it now is. Per- 
sons wishing to subscribe for this Journal, will please for- 
ward their names immediately, and as soon as published a 
sample copy will be sent them, and should it meet their ap- 
probation they can remit one dollar. 

All communications should be directed to K. P. KIDDEE, 
care of the Times Offije, Burlington, Yt. 



CONTENTS OF BOOK. 

It will teach the Apiarian how to manage his bees ; how to 
train them \ how to make them breed rapidly; how to make 
them produce honey; how to make them swarm ; how to pre- 
vent their swarming ; how to keep them through the winter 
safely ; how to make them healthy ; how to prevent their get- 
ting diseased ; how to keep them until they die with old age ; 
how to ascertain the age of the different kind of bees in a col- 
ony ; also, the physiology, anatomy, and history of bees from 
the earliest period of the world ; also, giving the habits and 
instincts of bees. The bee-keeper will learn how to put two or 
more swarms together any time he chooses ; how to divide a 
swarm into two or more ; how to prevent bees from leaving 
the hive after they have been put into them, (when they have 
swarmed naturally) ■ how the loss of the Queen can be sup- 
plied and save the stock ; how the bee-keeper can ascertain 
when there is a fertile Queen present ; how the Drones can 
be killed off, and how they can be prevented from hatching ; 
how to make bees work in any kind of receptacle, such as 



9 

boxes, decanters, tumblers, &c.; how to keep bees, summer 
and winter, out doors and in; how to prevent bees from sting- 
ing; how to make wax from old combs; how to feed bees safe- 
ly any time of the year ; how to change bees from one hive to 
another any time of the year ; how a fortune can be made by 
keeping bees, and what the required means are ; how bees 
can make 15 and 18 pounds of honey iu one day, and two 
and three hundred pounds in a single year ; how to transport 
bees from one place to another ; how to keep bees from rob- 
bing ; how to break up their robbing when once commenced ; 
how to drive bees into a hive when they are all over the out- 
side of ii ; and many more things I might mention if time 
and space would permit of it. I regret very much that I 
have been so limited in this respect, as many things have 
been omitted that would be of much use to the practical Api- 
arian. All orders promptly attended to. 

Mead. Some persons may feel desirous of making for 
themselves this once famous drink. I will attempt to furnish 
them with simple directions for so doing : Common Mead is 
formed by mixing two parts of water to one of honey, and 
boiling them together and taking off the scum. 

Fermented Mead, is formed of three parts of water to one 
of honey, boiled as before, and skimmed and casked. The 
cask is to be left with the bung out and exposed to the sun, 
or in a warm room, until it ceases to work. The bung should 
then be replaced and in about three months it is fit for use. 
The addition of a fermenter is of course necessary, taking 
care that it be sound, good and sweet. Hops are an improve- 
ment to Mead, as it takes from its sweetness ; also, chop- 
ped raisins boiled with it at the rate of six pounds of honey to 
each half pound of raisins, also, a few bits of lemon peel, and 
a few glasses of brandy will improve it very much. 

MetJieglin, is only another name for Mead, altered by the 
addition of various ingredients, according to taste ; these 



10 
liquors may be refined and bottled like other wines, and will 
if properly managed, keep for years. 

Artificial Honey, which can hardly be distidguish from the 
pure article, is made as follows : Take of soft water six 
pounds, best moist brown sugar 20 pounds, pure bees honey 
3 pounds, cream of tartar 80 grains, essence of roses 20 
drops ; mix in a brass kettle, boil five minutes and then take 
it off and add the white of two eggs well beaten ; when al- 
most cold add two pounds more of pure honey. A decoction 
of slipperry elm bark, or the mucilage of gum Arabic, will im- 
prove the honey if added while cooling ; sometimes starch is 
used instead of the bark or gum, and is very good. 

Letters on business must be addressed to K. P. KIDDER, 
Burlington Vt. 






Drone. 



Queen. 



Worker. 



PREFACE 



Having spent several years in the study of the Honey 
Bee, (Apis Mellifica) and knowing there are but few books 
published in this country upon that subject, which are practic- 
al works for the Apiarian to be guided by, and seeing so 
much mismanagement with bees, and knowing the profits to 
be derived from their keeping when they have proper care and 
attention bestowed upon them, has induced me to write this 
small treatise. 

In all countries and in every age, the labors of bees has 
proved a fertile source of admiration, and mankind have en- 
deavored unremittingly to convert it to gratification or emolu- 
mei.t. What can be more wonderful indeed, than to witness 
an insect of such apparent insignificance, rendering each dif- 
ferent flower tributary to itself, or the necessity of its young • 
and fabricating structures which no human art can approach 
and imitate. But it is from the impulse of its propensities, 
and from the united efforts of myriads, that we are enabled 
to gain those valuable products which otherwise would be ut- 
terly unattainable. Curiosity and avidity being equally awak- 
ened by the industry of these diminutive beings, innumerable 
theories, observations, and experiments, have followed, regard- 
ing them ; yet the real discoveries compared with the inves- 
tigators, has been surprisingly few. Vague speculations have 
been substituted for rational researches into thenature of bees, 
and superficial inspection deemed satisfactory analysis of their 
works. Hence the properties actually ascertained, are so in- 
terwoven with error, that no subject has been the parent of 
greater absurdities. Unfortunately, also, some of these treat- 
ies, and the most accessible ones at the present day, only con- 



12 

tribute to their wide dispersion and enhance the difficulties of 
the philosophical naturalist who is attempting their eradica- 
tion. A considerable portion of this work is devoted to this 
purpose ; it belongs to the reader to judge of the deductions 
whereby the author concludes that he has established many 
facts from experiments. Perhaps no treatise of equal compass, 
or even greater, contains as many novelties in the history of 
bees. Their nature, organization, sense, instinct, and mode 
of perpetuation, are all illustrated. The origin of Wax, the 
faculty of obtaining it from honey or sugar, its application to 
use in the structure of cells and the formation of comb, are 
fully discussed, while several points are established which had 
been previously, themes of conjecture and controversy. But 
the general approbation given here, as well as in many parts 
of the Old world, to a modest and unobtrusive work, wherein 
both instruction and amusement are combined, constitutes the 
btst testimony of its merits. Thus, to use the words of Sue, 
an eminent foreign author, " the observations are so consis- 
tent, and the deductions so conclusive, that this treatise will 
be a guide to Apiarian science, in all its variousdepartments." 
It has been the aim of the author in this small treatise, to 
give to the world a s ystem of Bee Management that will 
prove a guide to Apiarians and a benefit to the rising gene- 
ration. 

K. P. KIDDER, Burlington Vt. 



MEMOIRS OF HUBER, 



PRINCE OF APIARIANS. 



The Naturalist whose researches have been specially di- 
rected to the instincts and operations of the domestic Honey 
Bee, will be strongly disposed to regard the subject of this 
Memoir, as at the very head of Apiarian Science, and his 
writings, as forming the safest and most useful text-book. 
Multitudes have written on this interesting department of 
Natural History, and have cdded more or less to our knowl- 
edge of what has been a subject of investigation for ages- 
But none, either in ancient or modern times, have displayed 
so much sagacity of research, as Francis Huber, nor so 
much perseverance and accuracy of experiment, even admit- 
ting some errors of minor importance, detected by succeeding 
observers. His success in discovery, notwithstanding the 
singular difficulty he had to struggle with, was proportioned 
to his intelligence and acuteness ; and this difficulty arose, 
not from what some of his advocates have, in their zeal in his 
defence against the sneers of the skeptical, termed " imper- 
fect vision," but from total blindness. For, from the period 
when he first applied himself in good earnest, to investigate 
the nature of his winged favorites, external nature presented 
to his eyes one universal blank. 
B 



14 NEM.OIRS OF I1UBEK, 

It is not, therefore, without reason, that his friend and eu- 
logist, Be Candole* asserts that "nothing of importance has 
been added to the history of* Bees since his time ; and natu- 
ralists of unimpaired vision, have nothing of consequence' to 
subjoin, of a brother who was deprived of sight." 

Francis Huber was born at Geneva, on the 2d of July, 
1750. His father possessed a decided taste for subjects of 
natural science ; the son inherited ihe taste of his father, and 
even in his boyish days, pursued his favorite studie" 4 with 
such intense ardor, as materially to injure his health, and 
bring on that weakness of his visual organs which, eventually, 
ended in total blindness. His attention had been led to what 
became his sole and engrossing study, the habits and economy 
of the Honey Bee, by his admiration of the writings of 
Reaumur, and above all, by acquaintance with Bonnett, the 
illustrious author of " Contemplation de La Nature," who 
quickly discovered the intelligence and penetration of his 
young friend; and who kindly and strongly encouraged him, 
in his peculiar researches. It is singular enough, that these 
two distinguished naturalists and friends should both have 
labored under a similar personal defect, occasioned, too, by 
the same causes ; for the same intenseness and minuteness of 
observation which deprived Huber of sight altogether, had 
brought on in Bonnett a weakness of vision, which, for a 
time, threatened total blindness, and from which he never 
fully recovered. 

It will readily occur to every cue that the loss of sight in 
Huber, must not only have presented a very serious obstacle 
to the successful study of his favorite science, but must have 
had the effect also, of throwing considerable doubt on the ac- 
curacy of his experiments, and the reality of his discoveries. 
His most devoted admirers, and most unhesitating followers, 



*See Memoirs of Huber by M. de Candole, in the Edinburgh Philo- 
jphicalJournal, for April, 1833, 



PRINCE OF APIARIANS. 15 

ii every thing connected with the economy of Bees, are bound 
in candor to acknowledge, that his observations, reported as 
they were at second hand, and depending, for their accuracy, 
on the intelligence and fidelity of a half-educated assistant,. 
were, of themselves, not entitled to be received without cau- 
tion and distrust. Francis Burnens, his assistant, had, no 
doubt, entered with enthusiasm into the pursuit, and appears to 
have conducted the experiments not only with the most patient 
assiduity, but with great address and no smali share of stead- 
iness and courage: qualities indispensable in those who take 
Li berties "with the irritable genus apum. Still, Burnens was 
but an uncultivated peasant when he became Ruber's hired 
servant, and possessed none of those acquired accomplish- 
ments which s>rve to sharpen the intellectual faculties, and 
fit the mind for observing and discriminating with correct- 
ness. 

It cannot reasonably excite our wonder, therefore, that on 

the firs: appearai ce of Huber'.s observations, the literary, or 

rather the scientific, world was somewhat startled, not only at 

■ v:des, but also at the instrumentality ,hy which they 

ha- ,. .. , ; eeted. 

Huuci, however, had taken great pains in cultivating the 
naturally acute mind of the young man, in directing his re- 
nd accustoming him to rigorous accuracy in his ob- 
servations. And the fact that a glimmering of many of the 
discoveries reported by die assistant to his master, had pre- 
i themselves to the minds of Linnseus, Eeau-mur, and 
other \ receding observers, should so far satisfy us that they 
were not brought forward merely to support a preconceived 
Theory, (of which, it is probable, Burnens had no idea,) nor 
owed their origin to a vivid and exhuberant imagination. At 
a future period, Huber was deprived of the aid of this val- 
uable coadjutor; ) loss was more than compensated, 
and accuracy in experiments and observation, if possible, still 



16 MEMOIRS OF HUBER, 

more unquestionably secured, by the assistance and co-opera- 
tion of his son, P. Huber, who has given so much delight to 
the lovers of Natural History, by his ' b Researches concern- 
ing the Habits of Ants." 

But whatever hesitation may arise in our minds from the 
fact of Huber's discoveries not being the result of his person- 
al observation, no doubt can reasonably remain, as to such of 
them as have been repeatedly confirmed and verified by sub- 
sequent observers. And this has actually taken place, and 
holds strictly true, in regard to the most important of 
them. 

His discoveries respecting the impregnation of the queen- 
bee ; the consequences of retarded impregnation ; the power 
possessed by the working-bees of converting a worker 
Larva into a Queen — a fact, though not originally discover- 
ed by Huber, yet, until his decisive experiments and illustra- 
tions, never entirely known or credited — the origin of wax 
and its manner of elaboration ; the nature of propolis ; the 
mode of constructing the combs and cells, and of ventilating 
or renovating the vitiated atmosphere of the hives; to— • 
and a variety of other particulars of inferior moment, have al- 
most all been repeatedly verified by succeeding observers, 
and many of them by the writer of this brief Memoir. It is 
readily admitted that some of his experiments, when repeated, 
have not been attended with the results which he led us to 
expect ; and some incidents in the proceedings of the Bees 
as stated, have not been witnessed by succeeding observers. 
But in some of these, the error may have been in repetition, 
in others, the result, even under circustances apparently the 
same, may not always be uniform, for the instincts of Bees 
are liable to modification; and in some he doubtless may be, 
and probably /s,nistaken. 

In passing judgment, however, on his reported discoveries, 
we ought to keep in view that the author of them has thrown 



PRINCE OF APIARIANS. 17 

more light upon the subject of Bee Culture, than all the other 
Naturalists taken together, and that therefore, nothing short 
of the direct evidence of our senses, the most rigid scrutiny, 
and ihe most minute correctness of detail in experiment, can 
justify our denouncing his accuracy, or drawing different con- 
clusions. His experiments were admirably fitted to elicit 
the truth, and his inferences so strictly logical, as to afford 
all reasonable security against any very important error. 

Iluber's Nouvelles observations sur les Abeilles" addressed 
in form of a letter to his friend Bonnet, appeared in 1792, in 
one volume. In 1814 a second edition was published at Paris, 
in two volumes, comprehending the result of additional re- 
searches on the same subject, edited in part by his son. An 
English version appeared in 1806, and was very favorably 
noticed by the Edingburgh Review. A third edition of this 
translation was published, in Edingburgh, in 1821, embracing 
not only the original work of 1792, but also the several addi- 
tions contained in that of 1814, and which had originally 
made their appearance in the Bibliotheaue Bmtanniaue. 

These additional observations were : on the Origin of Wax, 
on the use of Farina or Pollen, on the Architecture of Bees, 
and on the precautions adopted by those insects against the 
ravages of the Sphinx Atrapos. 

To enlarge on the personal character and domestic circum- 
stances of Huber, falls not strictly within our province, which 
embraces only, or chiefly, his writings and character as a 
Naturalist. There are, however, some features in his dispo- 
sition, and some circumstances in his personal history, dwelt 
upon at considerable length by De Oandole, which appear 
so well worthy the attention of our readers, that we cannot 
forego the opportunity of detailing them, though necessarily 
in an abridged form. 

His manners were remarkably mild and amiable, as is 
frequently found to be the case with those who are afflicted 



18 MEMOIRS OF HUBER. 

with blindness, and his conversation animated and interest- 
ing. " When any one" says his friend, " spoke to him on 
subjects which interested his heart, his noble figure became 
strikingly animated, and the vivacity of his countenance 
seemed,by a mysterious magic, to animate even his eyes, which 
had so long been condemned to blindness." It appears that 
some of his friends would gladly have persuaded him to try 
the effect of an operation, on one of his eyes, which seemed to 
be affected only by simple cataract ; but he declined the pro- 
posal, and bore, not only without complaint, but with habitual 
cheerfulness, his sad deprivation. His marriage with Maria 
Aimee Lullin, the daughter of a Swiss magistrate, was in a 
high degree romantic. 

The attachment had begun in their early youth, but was 
opposed by the lady's father, on the ground of Huber's in- 
creasing infirmity ; for even then, the gradual decay of his 
organs of vision was become but too manifest. The affec- 
tion and devotedness of the young lady, however, appeared 
to strengthen in proportion to the helplessness of their object. 
She declared to her parents, that although she would have 
readily submitted to their will, if the man of her choice could 
have done without her ; yet as he now required the constant 
attendance of a person who loved him, nothing should pre- 
vent her from becoming his wife. Accordingly, as soon as 
she had attained the age which she imagined gave her a right 
to decide for herself, she refused many brilliant offers, and 
united her fate with that of Huber. The union was a happy 
one. Their mutual good conduct soon brought about the 
pardon of their disobedience. In the society and affection of 
his generous minded wife, the blind man felt no wants ; she 
was " eyes to the blind,"— his reader— his secretary and ob- 
server — sharer in his enthusiasm on the subject of Natural 
Science, and an able assistant in his experiments. She was 
spared to him over forty years. " As long as she lived," 



PRINCE OF APIARIANS. 19 

said he in his old age, " I was not sensible of the misfortune 
of being blind." The last years of his life were soothed by 
the attentions of his married daughter, Madame de Molin, 
whose residence was at Lausanne, and to which place he had 
removed. 

It was about this period that he learned the existence, in 
Mexico, of Bees without stings; and he was, by the kind exer- 
tions of a friend, soon after gratified by a present of a hive 
of that species. To him, whose life had been almost exclu- 
sively devoted to the study and admiration of these insects, 
we may conceive how great a source of enjoyment this pres- 
ent must have afforded, His feelings towards his Bees was 
not a feeling of fondness in an ordinary degree, it was a j' as - 
sion, as it almost invariably becomes^ with every one who 
makes them his study. 

The days of Huber were now drawing to a close. In the 
full possession of his mental faculties, he was able to converse 
with his friends with his accustomed ease and tranquility, and 
even to correspond by letter with those at a distance, within 
two days of his death. He died in the arms of his daugh- 
ter, on the 22:1 of December, 1331, in the 81st year of 
his age. 

Apiarians owe more to Huber, for the advancement of 
Apiarian science, than to any other man. Having in many 
instances verified some of the most important of his observa- 
tions, I take the greatest pleasure in acknowledging my many 
obligations to him, and holding him up before the world as the 
L under of Apiarian science in a great degree. There are few 
riifj'n, either in ancient or modern times, that have had such 
means, perseverance and patience in carrying on his many 
rostly experiments for a series of years, as the celebrated 

I'iUDhR. 



APIS MELLIFICA 

INTRODUCTION. 



The domestic Honey Bee has excited a lively and almost 
universal interest, from the earliest ages. 

The philosopher, the poet, and historian, have each delight- 
ed in the study of an insect whose nature and habits afford 
such ample scope for inquiry, and contemplation ; and even 
the less intellectual will readily perceive the profit and gain 
that can be derived from the Honey Bee, with proper care and 
management. 

" Wise in their govermment," observes the venerable 
Kirby, " diligent and active in their employments, devoted to 
their young and to their queen, the Bees read a lecture to 
mankind that exemplifies their oriental na-ne, Deburah — 
she that speaketh." 

So high did the ancients carry their admiration of this tiny 
portion of animated nature, that one philosopher, Aristoma- 
chus, it is said, made it the sole object of his study for near 
three score years ; another retired to the woods, and devoted 
to its contemplation the whole of his life.- Both the great 
Bee Ma-ters left behind them, in writing, the results of their 
many experiments and observations. However small the 
contribution of knowledge which we have received from these 
ancient worthies, they must have greatly aided the progress 
of their favorite science, and are at all events evidences of 
the zeal with which it was prosecuted in their day. 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

About three hundred years after the time at which Aristot- 
tle wrote, his observations and discoveries on the Honey Bee 
were embellished and invested with a species of divinity, by 
the matchless pen of Virgil, in his fourth Book of Georgics, 
and it excites feelings of regret, that poetry, which for its 
beauty and elegance is so universally admired, should be the 
vehicle of opinions that are founded in error. 

About the commencement of the Christian era, Columella, 
who was a very accurate observer, and exhibited considera- 
ble genius as a naturalist, made some useful and curious dis- 
coveries and rem. irks upon Bees, in his treaties De Re Rus- 
tica. But Columella, like Virgil, appears to have acquiesced 
in, and copied, the errors of his predecessors. 

After him, the elder Pliny gave a sanction to the opinions 
which he found prevalent, and added to them others of his 
own. To him we are indebted for the transmission to us 
of all that was actually known, or supposed to be know T n, of 
Natural History in his day. 

After the compilation of Pliny's vast Compendium, nearly 
fourteen hundred years rolled away without anything being 
done for Entomology, or for Natural History in general. 
The Arabians alone preserved a glimmer of science, du- 
ring those dark ages that succeeded the fall of the Roman 
Empire. 

On the revival of learning in the fifteenth century, and af- 
ter the discovery of the Art of Printing, various editions 
were published of the works on natural History, written by 
the fathers of that science. Sir Edward Wotton, Conrade 
Gesner, and others, produced, conjointly, a work on insects, 
the manuscript of which came into the possession of Doctor 
Thomas Perry, an eminent Physician and Botanist in the 
reign of Queen Elizabeth. After devoting fifteen years to 
the improvement of the work, the Doctor died, and the unfin- 
ished manuscripts were purchased at an exorbiant price, by 



22 APIS MELLIFECA. 

Mauffet, a cotemporar'y English physician of singular learn- 
ing, who with great labo', and at great expense, arranged, 
and enlarged, and completed the work. When nearly ready 
for i he press, he also died, and the papers, after lying buried 
in dust and obscurity for several years, at last fell into the 
hands of Sir Theodore Mayearne, (Baron d' AuDone,) a 
Court Physician in the time of Charles the First, who gave 
them to the world in 1634. Swammer&am published his cel- 
ebrated work, " A General History of Insects," in 1669 ; a 
more enlarged edition in two volumes folio, containing the 
history of Bees, was afterwards published in 1737', under the 
auspices of Boorhaave, from the manuscript of Swammerdam. 
Those readers who have patience to wade through these te- 
dious volumes, will be rewarded by the attainment of much 
curious information. 

The French Natural Historian, Reaumur, stands promi- 
nent among the students of Entomology, for the unsurpassed 
enthusiasm and accuracy with which he has investigated 
some of the most intricate parts. About this period, also, 
flourished the great, the illustrious Linnsens, whose labors 
diffused light over every department of natural science, and 
have just cause to be regarded as one of its brightest or- 
naments. 

Afterwards appeared the works of the celebrated Bonnet;, 
of Geneva, the admiring correspondent of Eeaumur, and the 
patron and friend of Huber. This great Physiologist became 
iddicted to the study of Entomology, before he was seventeen 
y 7 ears of age, from reading Spectacle de L : N. re; and his! 
decisive experiments upon Aphides,* do him the highest 
3redit. 

We now come to to the Physiological discoveries of Schii 
•ach, Hunter, and Huber, men who have wonderfully ad- 



* Aphides, a species of insect that causes the Honey I)ew, See 
chapter upon Honey Dew 






INTRODUCTION. 23 

vanced the science of Entomology by a series of\ xperiments 
most ably conducted, by the most patient investigation, and 
tlie most accurate and enlightened observation, and placed it 
upon the solid foundation of rational induction. 

Several other writers, also, both in systematic works and 
periodical publications, have contributed to, and thrown much 
light upon, the economy and habits of the Honey Bee. A 
host of writers upon the nature, habits and culture of the 
Lee, have written within the last century, and many of them 
have made valuable discoveries pertaining to the nature of 
the Bee. 

Swammerdam, Maraldi, Beaumur, Bonnett, Schirach, Ar- 
thur Dobbs, Esq., Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq., Sir 0. S. 
Mackenzie, George Newport, and the Eev. Dr. Dunbar ; and 
more recently Huber and Thorly, Wildman and Keys, Hun- 
ter and Bonner, among ourselves, multiplied a hundred fold 
the discoveries of Aristotle, Columella and Maraldi. 

All the above writers have done much toward the advance- 
ment of Apiarian Science. 

In the following Treatise it has been my endeavor to com- 
bine, as much as possible, the profitable with the instructive 
and amusing ; in seeking which object, I have endeavored to 
clear the ground before rr.e of the wild flowers of conjecture 
and hypothesis, with which the human imagination has strewn 
it, and to substitute in their place the less showy, but more 
useful products of experiments and rational deduction ; the 
growth of which it should be the object of every laborer in 
the field of science to promote. I trust, that on a perusal 
of the experiments and observations detailed in the following 
pages, my readers will perceive that several of the difficul- 
ties and obscurities with which the subject has been beset 
have been cleared away, and that much has been done recent- 
ly to illustrate the Physiology, as well as to simplify the man- 



>4 APIS MEtLlFICA. 

agement and culture of the Bee. Our prescribed limits, have 
restricted us, in a great degree, to mere matter of fact, and 
prevent us often from illustrating our subject, as we might 
have done, by reference to the habits and instincts of others 
of the insect tribes. The same cause has operated as a bar 
to our indulging, so frequently as our inclinations would have 
led us; we trust, however, that the facts detailed, will of 
themselves, lead the mind of the intelligent reader to such 
reflections, as will secure for him the true merits of Ento- 
mology 



THE ANATOMY 



OF 



THE HONEY BEE. 



CHAPTER I. 

The Honey Bee, (Apis Mellifica) is of the order, Hymenop- 
tera, or that species of insects having four membraneous wings. 
Its anatomic structure presents, even to the superficial observer, 
striking evidence of design in the All-wise Contriver, and of the 
admirable adaptation of its parts, to their several uses. The 
body of the insect is about half an inch in length, of a blackish 
brown color, which deepens with age, and wholly covered with 
close-set hairs, which assist greatly in collecting the Farina of 
flowers. Tearing open the anthers of the plant on which it has 
alighted, and rolling its little body in the bottom of the corrolla, 
the insect brushes off the Earina, moistens it with its mouth, 
and passes it, from one pair of legs to another, until it is safely 
lodged, in the form of a kidney-shaped pellet, in a spoon-like 
receptacle, on its hinder legs, (to be noticed hereafter.) These 
hairs deserve to be particularly remarked, on account of their 
peculiar formation, being feather-shaped, or rather consisting 
each of a stem, with branches disposed around it, and, therefore, 
besides more effectually retaining their animal heat, peculiarly 
adapted for their office of sweeping off the farina. The head, 
which is of a triangular shape, and much flattened, is furnished 
with a pair of large eyes, of composite construction, and consist- 
ing of a vast assemblage of small, hexagonal surfaces, disposed 
C 



26 THE ANATOMY OF 

with exquisite regularity, each constituting, in itself, a perfect 
eye ; they are thickly studded with hair, which preserves them 
from dust, &c In addition to these moans of vision, the Bee 
is provided with three small stemmata, or coronetted eyes, situ- 
ated in ihe very crown of the head, and arranged in the form of 
a triangle. 

These must add considerably to the capacity of vision, in an 
insect whose most important operations are carried on in deep 
obscurity. As to the special or peculiar use the ocelli may 
serve, Reaumur and Blumonbach were of opinion, that while 
the large compound organs are used for viewing distant objects, 
the simple ones, are employed on objects close at hand. It is 
not probable, however, that these last, from their peculiar posi- 
tion, are appropriated to upward vision. 

The Antennas present us with another remarkable appen- 
dage of the head ; these are two tubes, about the thickness of a 
hair, springing from between the eyes, and a little below the 
ocelli ; they are jointed throughout their whole length, each 
consisting of twelve articulations, and therefore, capable of every 
variety of flexure. Their extremities are tipped with small 
round knobs, exquisitely sensible ; and which, from their re- 
semblance tc the stemmata, or ocelli, have been supposed, by 
some, to serve as organs of vision, — by others, as connected with 
the sense of hearing, — and by others still, as organs of feeling 
or touch. This last seems the most probable conjecture, as, on 
approaching any solid object or obstacle, the Bee cautiously 
brings its antennae in contact with it, as if exploring its nature. 
These insects use these organs, also, as a means of recognizing 
one another ; and an interesting instance is stated by Huber, 
in which they were employed to ascertain the presence of their 
Queen. 

The Mouth of the Bee comprehends the tongue, the mandible, 
or upper jaws, the maxillce, or lower jaws ; the labrum, or upper 
lip ; the labium, or lower lip ; with the proboscis connected with 



THE HONEY BEE. 



27 



it, and fom palpi, or feelers. The tongue of the Bee, like that 
of other animals, is situated within the mouth, and is so small 
and insignificant in appearance, as not to be easily discernable. 
In most anatomical descriptions of the Bee, the real tongue, now 
described, has been erroneously confounded with the ligula, or 
central piece of the proboscis, hereafter to be described. The 
upper jaw of the Bee, as of all other insects, is divided vertic- 
ally into two, thus forming in fact, a pair of jaws, under the 
name of mandibles. They are more horizontal than the probos- 
cis, and are furnished with teeth, and serve to the little laborers 
as tools, with which they perform a variety of operations ; as, 
manipulating the wax — constructing the combs — protecting 
themselves against their enemies — destroying their Drones, &c. 
The lower jaws, or maxilla, divided vertically, as the others, 
form, together with the labium, or under lip, the complicated 
apparatus of the proboscis. This organ, beautiful in its con- 
struction, and admirably adapted to its end, serving to the insect 
the purpose of extracting the juices secreted in the nectaries of 
flowers consisting principally, of a long, slender piece, named, 
by eii mo'ogists, the Ligula, and erroneously, though, consider- 
ing its position and use, not unnaturally 
regarded as the tongue. It is, strictly 
speaking, formed by the prolongation of 
the lower lip. It is not tubular, as has 
been supposed, but solid throughout : con- 
sisting of a close succession of cartila- 
ginous rings, above forty in number, each 
of which is fringed by very minute hairs> 
having also a tuft at its extremity. It is 
? ^ ofa flattish form, and about the thickne?s 
of a human hair ; and, from its cartila- 
ginous structure, capable of being easily 

moved in all directions, rolling from side to side, and lapping or 




28 THE ANATOMY OF 

licking up, whatever, by the aid of the hairy fringers, adheres to 
it. It is probably by muscular action, that the fluid which it 
laps is propelled into the pharynx, or canal, situated at its root, 
and through which it is conveyed to the honey-bag. From the 
base of this lapping instrument arises the labial palpi, or feel- 
ers, composed of four articulations of unequal length, the basal 
one being by much the longest, and whose peculiar office is to 
ascertain the nature of the food ; and both these and the ligula 
are protected from injury by the maxilla, or lower jaws, which 
envelope them, when in a quiescent state, as between two demi 
sheaths, and thus present the appearance of a single tube. About 
the middle of the maxillce, are situated the maxilliary palpi, 
of very diminutive size, but having the same office to perform as 
those situated at the base of the ligula. The whole of the ap- 
aratus is capable of being doubled up, by means of an articula- 
tion, or joint, in the middle. The half next to the lip bends it- 
self inward, and lays itself along the other half, which stretches 
towards the root, and both are folded together within a very 
small compass, under the head and neck. The whole m:>eh!nerj 
rests on a pedicle, not seen in the figure, which admit.- • f its 
being drawn in, or propelled forward, to a considerab.r *x.iont. 

The celebrated naturalist, Kay, whose knowledge of the minu- 
tiae of insect anatomy was but slender, "was," as Kirby remarks, 
"at a loss to conceive what could be the use of the complex ma- 
chinery of the proboscis. We, who perceive its admirable adap- 
tation to the purposes for which it was formed, need not wonder, 
but we shall be inexcusable if we do not adore." 

The Trunk of the Bee, or Thorax, approaches, in figure, to a 
sphere, and is united to the head by a pedicle or thread-like 
ligament. It contains the muscles of the wings and legs. The 
former consists of two pair of unequal size, and are attached to 
each other by slender hooks, and easily discernable through a 
microscope ; and thereby their motion, and the flight of the in- 
sect, are rendered more steady. Behind the wings, on each side 



TIIE HONEY BEE. 29 

of the trunk, are situated several small orifices, called stigmati, 
or spiracles, through which respiration is effected. These orifices 
are counected with a system of air vessels, pervading every part 
of the body, and serving the purpose of lungs ; the rushing of 
air through them, against the wings, while in motion, is supposed, 
by many eminent authors, to be the cause of the humming sound 
made by the Bees. To the lower part of the trunk are attached 
three pairs of legs. The anterior pair, which are the most effi- 
cient instruments, serving to the insect the same purpose as the 
arms and hands to man, are the shortest, and the posterior pair 
the longest. In each of these lmbis are several articulations or 
joints, of which three are larger than the others, serving to con- 
nect the thigh, the leg, or pellet, s,n& the foot, or tarsus ; the oth- 
ers are situated chiefly in the tarsus ; the tibia, or pallet, con- 
taining on the opposite side the basket or cavity. In each of 
the hinder limbs, there is an admirable provision made for enab- 
ling the Bee to carry to its hive an important part of its stores, 
and which neither the Queen nor the male possesses, being ex- 
empt from that labor, viz : a small triangular cavity, of a spoon- 
like shape, the exterior of which is smooth and glassy, while its 
inner surface is lined with strong, close-set hairs. This cavity 
forms a kind of basket, destined to receive the pollen of flow- 
ers, the principal ingredient Composing the food of the young. 
It receives also, the propolis, a viscous substance, by which the 
combs are attached to the top and walls of the hive, and by 
which any holes are stopped that might admit vermin, rain or 
cold. The hairs with which the basket is lined, are designed to 
retain firmly the material with which the thigh is loaded. The 
three pairs of legs are all furnished, particularly the joints, with 
thick-set hairs, forming brushes ; some of them round, and some 
flattened, and which, as we have said before, serve the purpose of 
sweeping off the farina. There is yet another remarkable peculi- 
arity in this third pair of limbs. The junction of the pal- 
let and tarsus is effected in such a manner as to form, by the 



30 THE ANATOMY OF 

curved shape of the corresponding parts, " a pair of real pin- 
cers. A row of shelly teeth, like those of a comb, proceeds 
from the lower edge of the pallet, corresponding to the bundles 
of very strong hairs with which the neighboring portion of the 
brush is provided. When the two edges of the pincers meet, 
that is, the under edge of the pallet and the upper edge of the 
brush, the hairs of each are incorporated together," The ex- 
tremeties of the six feet, or tarsi, terminate each in two hooks, 
with their points opposed to each other, by means of which the 
Bees fix themselves to the roof of the hive, and to one another 
when suspended, as they. often are, in the form of cumins, in- 
verted cones, festoons, ladders, &c. From the middle of these 
hooks proceeds a little thin appendage, which, when not in use, 
lies folded double through its whole breadth ; when in action, it 
enables the insect to sustain its body in opposition to the force 
of gravity, and thereby adhere to, and walk freely and securely 
upon, glass and other elippery substances, with its feet upwards. 

Figure 2 represents the body portion of the Bee, 
showing mo re particularly the abdomen, and the man- 
|ner of manipulating wax, which accumulates on the 
abdomen of the Bee, in little fine scales, as shown in 
the figure. The abdomen is attached to the posterior 
Dart of the thorax by a slender ligament, like that 

Fig. 2. v J ° 

which unites the thorax and the head, consisting of six scaly 
rings of unequal breadth. It contains the honey -bag or fiirst stom- 
ach, the small intestines, the venom bag, and the sting. An open- 
ing, placed at the root of the proboscis, is the mouth of the cesopha- 
gus, or gullet, which traverses the trunk and leads to the anterior 
stomach. This is but a dilation of the gullet, and, in fact, it is what 
is called the honey-bag. When full, it exhibits the form of a 
small transparent globe, somewhat less in size than a pea ; it is 
susceptible of contraction, and so organized as to enable the Bee 
to disgorge its contents. The second stomach, which is separated 
from the first, (of which it appears to be merely a continuation,) 




THE HONEY BEE. 3l 

only by a very snort tube, is cylindrical and very muscular ; it 
is the receptacle for the food, which is there digested and con- 
veyed into the small intestines, for the nourishment of the body 
and for the elaboration of wax, &c. Scales of wax are found 
ranged in pairs and contained in minute receptacle?, under the 
lower segments of the abdomen. No direct channel of com- 
munication between the stomach and these receptacles, or wax 
pockets, has yet been discovered ; but Huber conjectures that 
the secreting vessels are contained in the membrane which lines 
these receptacles, and which is covered with a reticulation of 
hexagonal meshes, analogous to the inner coat of the second 
stomach of ruminating quadrupeds. Only eight scales are furn- 
ished by each individual Bee; for the first and last ring, consti- 
tuted .differently from the others, afford none. The scales do 
not rest immediately on the body of the insect ; a slight liquid 
medium is interposed, which serves to lubricate the junctures of 
the rings, and facilitate the extraction of the scales of wax, 
which might, otherwise, adhere too firmly to the sides of the re- 
ceptacles. 

The Sting, (Fig. 3)with its appendages, 
lies close to the last stomach, and, like 
the proboscis, may seem to the naked 
eye, a simple instrument, while it is in 
fact, no less complex in its structure 
than the former apparatus. Instead of 
its being a simple, sharp-pointed weapon 
like a fine needle, it i* composed of 
two branches or darts, applied to each 
other longitudinally, and lodged in 
one sheath, [a. a.) One of these 
dartsis somewhat longer than the oth- 
er ; they penetrate alternately, taking hold of the flesh until the 
sting is completely buried. The sheath is formed by two horny 
scales, (themselves inclosed within two fleshy sheaths, c c.) along 
the groove of which, when the sting is extruded, flows the poison 




32 THE ANATOMY OF 

from a bag or reservoir, (d) in the body of the insect, near the 
root of the sting. The darts composing this - "weapon are each 
furnished with five or six teeth, or barbs, set obliquely on their 
outer side, which gives the instrument the appearance of an arrow, 
and by which it is retained in the wound it has made till the poi- 
son has been ejected ; and though it is said the insect has the 
power of raising or depressing them at pleasure, it often hap- 
pens, when suddenly driven away, that it is unable to extricate 
itself, without leaving behind the whole apparatus, and even part 
of its intestines ; death is the inevitable consequence, in less 
than twenty-four hours after. Though detached from the in- 
sect, this formidable weapon still retains, by means of the strong 
muscles by which it is impelled, the power of forcing itself, to 
the depth of an eighth of an inch, through the thick skin of a 
man's hand. 

The action of the sting affords us an example of the union of 
Chemistry and Mechanism combined ; of Chemistry, in respect 
to the venom, which, in so small a quantity, can produce such 
powerful effects ; — of Mechanism, as the sting is not a simple, 
but a compound instrument. The machinery would have been 
comparatively useless — telum imbelle — had it not been for the 
chemical process, by which, in the insect's body, honey is con- 
verted into poison ; and on the other hand, the poison would 
have been ineffectual without an instrument to wound, and a 
syringe to inject the fluid. Having noticed these particulars in 
the anatomical structure of the Neuter, or Working Bee, we 
shall next point out in what respects it differs from the Queen, 
the Mother Bee, and the Drone, or Male Bee. 

The Queen is frequently styled by the con- 
tinental Naturalist, the Mother Bee, or Perfect 
Female, and the only perfect female in the 
whole colony. First, the Queen has a long 
tapering body, short wings, much shorter than 
her body, which is not the case, either with the 
Drone, (but quite the reverse), or the Working Bee. It is fully 




Fig. 4 



THE HONEY BEE. 



33 



ascertained that her distinguishing qualities have a closer rela- 
tion to the properties of a parent, than to the province of a sov- 
ereign. Her body differs from that of a worker, in being con- 
siderably larger, and of a deeper black in the upper parts, while 
the under surface and the limbs are of a rich tawny color. Her 
proboscis is more slender ; her legs are longer than those of a 
worker, but without the hairy brushes at the joints ; and as she 
is exempted from the drudgery of collecting farina or propolis, 
the posterior pair are without the spoon-like cavity found in 
those of her laboring offspring. When about to become a moth- 
er, her body is considerably swollen and elongated, and her 
wings, consequently, appear disproportionably short. The ab- 
domen of the queen contains the ovarum, consisting of two 
branches, each of which contains a large assemblage of vessels 
filled with eggs, and terminating in what is called the oviduct. 
This duct, when approaching the anus, dilates itself into a lar- 
ger receptacle, into which the eggs are discharged, and which is 
considered by naturalists, the sperm reservoir, or depository of 
fecundating matter ; from thence they are extruded by the in- 
sect, and deposited in the cell prepared for their reception. The 
sting possessed by the queen is bent or curved under some- 
what, while that of a worker is straight ; it is seldom, however, 
brought into action, only in contact with a rival queen.^ 

v / *. The Drone has been ascertained, by micro- 

\ \JL g scopic examination, to be a perfect Male ; is 
j^wk %jt considerably more bulky than the Working 
; /'X Bee, and his wings somewhat longer than his 
,/ ^>. body ; the eyes are more prominent ; the an- 

~^Jf ftaSf \ tenusd has thirteen articulations, instead of 
Pi 5 twelve ; the proboscis is shorter ; the hind 

legs have not the baskets for containing farina, and he is unpro- 
vided with a sting ; the cavity of the abdomen is wholly occu- 

*For a more full description of the Queen, see chapter on Queen. 



34 THE SENSES OP BEES. 

pied with the digestive and reproductive organs. The very loud 
humming noise he makes when flying, has fixed upon him the ap- 
pellation of Drone.^ 



CHAPTER II. 

The Senses of Bees. 

Much uncertainty has prevailed upon the subject of the sen- 
ses possessed by this insect ; not so much, perhaps, in regard to 
their existence, as to the locality of the organs. Most naturalists 
admit their possessiou of five senses, analagous to those of men, 
though the celebrated Huber seems to have had some doubt as 
to the existence of the sense of hearing in Bees, at least with- 
out some important modifications. Greater diversity of opinion, 
however, prevails as to the situation of those organs by which 
the impressions of sight, touch, taste, sound, and smell, are pro- 
duced on their sensations ; and many curious experiments by 
different naturalists, have be°,n made, with a view to ascertain 
the truth, but which have not always led to the same results. In 
researches so minute, it is, perhaps, vain to look tor perfect ac- 
curacy in our conclusions, and we must be satisfied with any 
thing like a reasonable approximation to the truth. 

Sight. In the anatomical structure of the head of the Bee, 
we observed, that, besides the large reticulated eyes, placed as 
in other animals, on the sides of the head, this insect possessed 
three stemmata, or coronetted eyes, arranged triangularly en its 
center, between the antennae. That these little specks, are, in 
reality, organs of vision, has been made apparent from accurate 



"See chapter on Drones, fur a more particular description. 






THE SENSES OF BEES. 35 

experiments, in which, when the reticulated eyes were blindfold- 
ed, the insect was evidently not deprived of sight, though the 
direction of its flight, being vertical, seems to prove that the 
stemmata were adapted only, or chiefly, to upward vision. This 
additional organ must, doubtless, add considerably to its power 
of sight though probably, its aid may be confined principally to the 
obscure recesses ef the hive. As the internal operations of the 
insect, in the honey season, are carried on during the night, as 
well as the day, the coronetted eyes may, as Reaumur conjectures, 
serve the purpose of a microscope. As to the general power of 
vision in the Bee, its organs appear better adapted to distant ob- 
jects, than to such as are close at hand. When returning loaded 
from the fields, it flies with unerring certainty, and dis- 
tinguishes at once its own domicil, in the midst of a crowd- 
ed Apiary. Yet every person who has at all made this insect 
the subject of observation, must have seen it often at a loss, in 
returning to its hive, to find the entrance, especially if its habi- 
tation has been a little moved from its former station ; nay, 
without moving the hive, if the entrance hadheen moved around 
a single inch, from its former position, the bees fly with uner- 
ring precision to that same familiar spot on the alighting-board, 
where the entrance formerly was, and frequently, after many 
fruitless attempts to find the entrance, it is forced to rise again 
in the air, with a view, we may suppose, of removing to such a 
distance from the desired object, as is suited to the focus of its 
visual organs. We are to conclude, therefore, from these well- 
known facts, that the eye has a lengthened focus, and that it 
must depend upon the aid of other organs, in viewing objects 
which are close at hand. 

Peeling or Touch. The organs of this sense are supposed, 
with reason, to reside in the antennce, and palpi, or feelers, par- 
ticularly in the former. Huber concludes that the antennae sup- 
ply the want of sight in the interior of the hive, and that it is 
solely by their means they are enabled to construct their combs 



35 THS SENSES OF BEES. 

in darkness, pour their hooey into the magazines, feed their 
young, guard their hive, judge of their age and necessities, and 
recognize their queen. Though it by no means appears clear, that 
the bees are devoid of sight when employed in their in-door ope- 
rations ; though, on the contrary, there is reason to believe, as 
already stated, that the ste?nmata, or ocelli, serve as orbs of vis- 
ion,^ this naturalist is probably right in ascribing to the an- 
tennae an important share in these operations. That the bees use 
them as means of communication and recognition, is admitted 
by Apiarians. When a hive has lost its queen, the event, as 
may well be supposed, causes a high degree of agitation in the 
colony ; the disturbed workers who have first, by some unknown 
means, acquired the knowledge of this public calamity, soon quit 
their immediate circle, and ' meeting their companions," says 
Huber ; " the antennas are reciprocally crossed, and they slightly 
strike them." The communication made by these means is 
quickly disseminated, and in a few moments the whole colony 
is in a state of agitation and distress. Of the antennae being em- 
ployed as instruments of recognition, the same naturalist gives a 
striking instance, which our limits prohibit us from giving in his 
own words ; suffice it to say here, that by means of a wire-grat- 
ing, wide enough only to admit the circulation of air, inserted in 
the middle of the hive, he separated the queen from half of her 
subjects, and ascertained that neither sight, hearing, nor smell, 
made the near neighborhood of their sovereign known to them ; for 
they proceeded to rear a new queen fro En the larva of a worker, 
as if the other were irrevocably lost. But when he substituted 
a grating large enough to allow the transmission of the antennae, 
all went on as usual; for the bees soon ascertained by these or- 
gans, the existence of their queen. Another important use 
which the bees make of this organ of touch, deserves notice: 

*I think it very doubtful that Bees have more than one pair of eyes. 
Why is it not reasonable to suppose that Bees can see in the interior 
part of the hive, (where it is generally perfect darkness,) as other spe- 
cies of insects and animals see equally as well in the dark ? 






THE SENSES OF BEES. 37 

" Let us follow their operations by moonshine, when they 
keep watch at the opening of the hive, to prevent the 
intrusion of moths then on the wing. It is curious to observe 
how artfully the moth knows how to profit to the disadvan- 
tage of the bee, which requires much light for seeing objects, 
and the precaution taken by the latter in reconnoitering and 
expelling so dangerous an enemy. Like vigilant sentinels, 
they patrol around their habitations with their antenna) 
stretched straight before them, or turning to right or left; 
wo to the moth if it cannot escape their contact ; it tries to 
glide along between the guards, carefully avoiding their flexi- 
ble organs, as if aware that its safety depended on its cau- 
tion." 

Taste in Bees. Taste appears, on a slight view, to differ 
most materially from that sense in man, and because, with 
all their eager fondness for the rich nectar of flowers, they are 
frequently detected in lapping the impure fluid fr< m corrupt- 
ed marshes, it has been hastily concluded that their sense of 
taste is very defective. Huber thought it the least perfect 
of the bee-senses, and cites instances of their gathering honey 
ever from poisonous flowers, and regaling themselves with 
fietid liquids. Now, with deference to this distinguished ob- 
server, we may be permitted, perhaps, to defend our favorites 
from so injurious an imputation. We have prima facie evi- 
dence of the delicacy of their taste, in their eager activity in 
collecting their delicious stores of honey, secreted by the 
most fragrant flowers; such is their ardor in these operations, 
that they defy the elements, when the honey-season is at its 
height, and, laying aside their usual fears of bad weather, 
boldly encounter wind and rain, to get at their favorite fluid. 
Huber acknowledges, that "when the lime-tree and black grain 
blossom, they brave the rain, and depart before sun-rise, and 
return later than ordinary. But their activity relaxes after 
the flowers have faded, and wlrn the enamel adorning of the 
D 



38 TOE SENSES OF BEES. 

meadow has fal'en under the scythe, the bees remain in their 
dwelling, however brilliant the sunshine," Wherefore have 
they not, in this decline of the flowering- season, recourse to 
the foul marsh and slimy pool, which they are charged with 
frequenting 1 Simply because the purposes for which they 
did frequent those unwholsome places, have already been an- 
swered. The truth is, the bees have recourse in spring, but 
generally speaking in spring only, to dung-hills, stagnant 
pools and marshes, for the sake of the sails with which they are 
impregnated, and which their instinct teaches them is advan- 
tageous to their health after their long winter's confinement. 
If we place before the bees a portion" of honey and a portion 
of liquid drawn from a corrupt pool, their choice will com- 
pletely vindicate the purity of their tastes, and their power 
of discrimination in the selection of their food. It is not- 
meant to be denied, however, that the sense or taste of bees 
is never at fault. This would be going in the face of some 
well-authenticated instances of honey being injured, and even 
rendered dangerous, in consequence of the bees feeding on 
noxious plants. Towards the close of the honey season, 
when the flowers become scarce, and in those parts of the 
country where alders abound, and where onions and leeks 
are extensively raised and allowed to run to seed, the bees, 
either from taste or necessity, are seen to feed on these plants, 
which communicate to the honey a very disagreeable flavor • 
But this is not all ; the fact stated by Xenophon in the Re- 
treat of the Ten Thousand, and confirmed by Diodaus Si- 
cuius, proves that there are plants in Asia Minor, which give 
to the honey not only disagreeable, but poisonous qualities. 
He tells us that the soldiers having eaten a quantity of honey 
in the environs of Trebizande, were seized with vertigo, vom- 
iting, &o. This effect was attributed to the rose-laurels 
(PJwdodendron Ponticum.) Father Lamberti, also, assures 
us that a- shrub of mingrela produces' a kind of honey which 



39 

THE SENSES OF BEES. ^ 

causes very deleterious effects. It is quite possible that the 
poisonous juices extracted from those plants, might be innox- 
ious to the bees themselves, and thus the correctness of 
their tastes might be so far vindicated. Sir J. E. Smith as- 
serts, that the " nectar of plants is not poisonous to bees ;" 
and an instance is given in the American Philosophical Trans- 
actions, of a party of yonng men, who, induced by the pros- 
pects of gain, having moved their hives from Pennsylvania to 
New Jersey, where there are vast savannahs, finely painted 
with flowers of the Kalmia Angustifolia, could not use or 
dispose of their honey on account of its intoxicating quality, 
yet the " bees increased prodigiously ;" an increase only to 
be explained, says Doctor Benan, in their being well and 
liarmlessly fed. Nor is this defence of the taste of bees suc- 
cessfully controverted by the following occurrence, stated in 
Nicholson's Journal.^ " A large swarm of bees having set- 
tled," observes that author, " on a branch of the poison-ash, 
(Rhus Vernix, L,) in the county of Westchester, near New 
York city, was put into a hive, and removed to a place where 
it was to remain. Next morning the bees w T ere found dead, 
swelled tr, ilouble their natural size, and black, except a few 
which appeared torpid and feeble, and soon died, after expo- 
sure to the air." This was attributed to their being poisoned; 
not by their having fed upon, but by the effluvia of the Rhus 
Vernix, or poison-ash. 

Hearixg. Considerable difference of opinion has prevail- 
ed among naturalists, both as to the existence of this sense, 
in bees, and the situation of the organ. Aristotle, who flour- 
ished before the Christian era, was doubtful whether bees pos- 
sessed this sense : "Incertum est anaudiantr Linnaeus and 
Bonnet believed them to possess this faculty, and Huber 
seems undecided on the point; while a host of others, among 



Tage 287. 



*U THE SENSES OF BEES. 

whom are ranked Kirby and Spence, maintain its existence, 
and place the organ in the antenna?. We know thai the 
bees dislike noi-e, for an apiary situated near a mill or forge, 
or where there is any very great noise, is seldom prosperous. 
The different modulations of souud produced by the wings 
in flying, seem intended as means of communication address- 
ed to organs of hearing; as signals of attack, of recall, of 
departure, &c. In consequence of a belief in the reality of 
this sense in bees, the practice has arisen of beating sonorous 
bodies at the moment of swarming, in order to prevent them 
from communicaiing with any other swarm that may per- 
chance be on the point of swarming, and also to present an 
obstacle to their flying away. We Know, also, that many 
other insects possess this faculty ; and, as we observe in the 
proceedings of bees, the same effects which in other insects, 
unquestionably proceed from a sense of hearing, we regard 
these effects as presumptive evidence of the former possess- 
ing the same faculty. • Huber sets out with initiating a doubt 
of its existence, in defence of his friend Bonnet, to whom lis 
letters are addressed, and who was an unbelieve? in its reaT 
ity, yet in the end confesses that he is strongly tempted 10 
believe in it, or at least to admit a sense in bees analagous to 
hearing ; observing that certain sounds as produced by bees, 
apparently serve as a signal to their companions, and are 
followed by regular consequences, and that, therefore, these 
may be additional means of communication, to those afforded 
by the antennae. He mentions, particularly, a sound emitted 
by the queen, which produces paralyzing effects on the bees 
in certain circumstances. Describing the attempt of a reign- 
ing queen to destroy her rivals while yet in their cells, he 
tells us, that " the bees on guard" pulled, bit her, and drove 
her away." In these circumstances she emitted the sound 
alluded to ; " standing while doing so, with her thorax 



TI1E SENSES OF BEES. 4l 

against a comb and her wings crossed on her back, in mo- 
tion, but without being unfolded or opened. Whatever might- 
be the cause of assuming this attitude, the bees were affected 
by it ; all hung down their heads and remained motionless."^ 
On another occasion, after the queen had put her rival to 
death, she approached a royal cell, and took this moment to 
utter the sound and assume that posture which strikes the 
bees " motionless." This discovery of Huber has been 
brought forward on his authority, by naturalists, as a conclu- 
sive evidence of the existence of the auditor's faculty in 
bees. And so it would be, if Huber was not mistaken in his 
supposed discovery. A voice of sovereignty, producing such 
I owerful and instantaneous effects on her subjects, is so re- 
markable a property of her bee-majesty, that it would be 
desirable to have its existence prov d beyond doubt, by suc- 
ceeding experiments. With much confidence in the accura- 
cy of this distinguished naturalist's observations, we enter- 
tain some hesitation on the subject of this magical sound. 
We have seen a queen in all the circumstances, and in all 
the positions observable within a hive ; (with one exception, 
viz : combatting a rival queen,) we have observed her very 
frequently in the particular situation described by Huber, 
when he first heard the commanding voice, endeavoring to 
tear open the cell of a rival queen, and angrily repulsed by 
the workers ; then standing at a little distance on the surface 
of the combs, with her wings crossed over her back and in 
motion, though not fully unfolded, and emitting the clear dis- 
tinct s:;und heard in a hive for a day or two before the de- 
parture of a second swarm ; and certainly, we never witness- 
ed any such effects produced on the bees as Huber speaks of. 
But still, Huber may be in the right, and his general a-cura- 
cy affords a presumption in his favor ; nevertheless, it would 

♦Huber, 157. 
d* 



42 TI1E SENSES OF BEES. 

be very satisfactory to have his accuracy on this particular 
point, confirmed by some other observer. Taking it for 
granted that the sense of hearing does exist in bees, where 
are we to look for the locality of the organ 1 ' Naturalists 
are not agreed on this point, but the majority seem to locate 
it in the antennae. Kirby and Spence notice the analogy 
borne by ihe antennae to the ears of vertebrated animals, and 
observe that no other organ has been found that can repre- 
sent the ear. In that case, this appendage of the head of 
the bee, must be regarded as a compound organ. exercis ng 
the functions of both heating and toueh. It has already been 
hinted that some observers have regarded it as the organ of 
vision, and we shall hereafter find that there are those who 
regard it as the organ of smell. In this deficiency of precise 
knowledge on the subject, we may perhaps rest satisfied with 
the opinion of Kirby that "the antennas, by a peculiar struc- 
ture, may collect notices from the atmosphere, receive pulses 
or vibrations, and communicate them to the censorium; which 
communications, though not precisely to be called hearing, 
may answer the same purpose." The same author gives an 
anecdote of another insect, which goes to prove that the an- 
tennas are indeed the organs of this sense : " A little moth 
was reposing on my window — I made a quiet, not loud, but 
distinct noise — the nearest antenna) immediately moved 
towards it — I repeated the noise at least a dozen times, and 
it was followed every time by the same motion of that organ, 
till at length the insect becoming alarmed, became agitated 
and violent in i ! s motions. In this instance it could not be 
touch, since the antennae were not applied to a surface, but 
directed towards the quarter from which the sound came, as 
if to listen." 

Smelling. Of all their senses, that of Smelling in bees, 
is the most acute. Attracted by the fragrance of the flow- 
..ers, \ye see them winging their eager way to a. very conside- 



THE SENSES OF BEES. 43 

rable distan e, in a straight, un deviating ccunc, and in the 
very teeth of a strong wind,* in search of those plants 
which promise an abundant honey harvest. Very striking 
proofs of the acuteness of this sense, may be observed within 
the limits of the Apiary. Early in spring, when thebee-mas- 
ter begins feeding his colonies, he has reason to marvel at the 
instantaneous notice which this organ gives them, of his ap- 
proach amongst his hives; though from the chilliness of a 
spring morning, not a bee is seen stirring out of doors, he has 
not time to till his feeding troughs from the vessel in his hand, 
before he is surrounded by hundreds of the greedy feeders. 
{For feeding Bees, see chapter on Feeding.) It is to their ex- 
quisite sense of smell, in all probability, that we must attrib- 
ute their capability of distinguishing friend from foe, among 
their own species. If a stranger-bee, by mistake, enter a hive, 
and this sometimes happens in consequence of some slight 
alteration in the arrangement of the Apiary, his close resem- 
blance to his fellow-insects, will not secure him from an imme- 
diate attack from all quarters ; he is detected by a more sub- 
tle sense than vision, and instant flight alone can save him. 
Huber, to whose researches we are so much indebted, in re- 
gard to the senses of bees, has made some very conclusive 
experiments on that of smell ; many of them Ave have re- 
peated with similar results. Like him, our first experiments 
were to ascertain the acuteness of the sense of smell. He 
co) cealed a vessel of honey behind the shutters of an open 
window, near the Apiary. In our experiment, a small box 

*Tt is said that bees ballast themselves with sand and gravel, wh°n 
in danger of being blown away by the wind. The notion was first en- 
tertained by Aristotle, and repeated by Virgil, to whose poetical imag- 
ination, such a trait in the habits of his favorre insects would be high- 
ly grateful. Pliny has also lent his aid to the currency of this notion ; 
audit is found in dissertations on the natural history of bees, as a sur- 
prising instance of bee-instinct, notwithstanding the correctness of 
Swaimnerdam and Reaumur, both of whom have shown that the mason- 
bee has been mistaken for the h ney-bee, the former of whom is often seen 
hastening through the air, loaded with sand and gravel, the material of 
its nest. 



44 THE SENSES OF BEES. 

containing a portion of honey mingled with ale, and covered 
with a piece of wire-gauze, was placed at a distance of 7o or 
SO yards from the Apiary, underneath a bunch of bushes, 
where it was by no means conspicuous. In a quarter of an 
hour a bee alighted on the box, and in a few minutes more, 
while this one was eagerly exploring and striving to gain an 
entrance, several moro joined it. The cover was then raised, 
and admission given, and after the first visitors had filled 
themselves and gone off, the feeders increased in the space of 
an hour, to hundreds. To diversify the trial, Huber procur- 
ed four small boxes, to the aperature of which, large enough 
to admit a bee, he fitted shutters or valves made of card pa- 
per, which it was nee ssary should be forced open in order to 
gain admission. Honey being put into them, they were placed 
at the distance of two hundred pace* from the Apiary. In 
half an hour bees were seen arriving, — carefully traversing 
the boxes, they soon discovered the openings, pressed against 
the valves, and reached the honey. This is a striking instance 
of the delicacy of smell in these insects, as not only was the 
honey qui e concealed from view, but its odorous effluvia, from 
being covered and disguised in the experiment, could not be 
much diffused. We repeated successfully, a similar experi- 
ment. In fact, after the first trial, we had no doubt of the is- 
sue of the second ; for if once the sense of smell in the bees 
ascertained the existence of the honey, we had seen enough 
of their ingenuity in other cases, not to doubt their success in 
other respects. In endeavoring to ascertain the precise situ- 
ation of the organ, there is considerable difficulty, and our 
curiosity cannot be easily gratified without some sacrifice of 
bee-life. Huber's experiments to ascertain this point, are 
full of interest. He dipped a pencil in oil of turpentine, a 
substance very disagreeable to insects, and presented it to the 
thorax, the stigmata, the abdomen, the antennae, the eyes, and 
the proboscis, without the bee's betraying the slightest symp- 



THE SENSES OF BEES. 45 

iom of uneasy feeling. It was otherwise when be held it to 
the mouth ; it started, it left the honey by which it had been 
enticed, and was on the point of taking flight, when the \ en-, 
cil was withdrawn. He next, filled the mouth with flour-paste 
when the insect seemed to have lost the sense of smell alto- 
gether. Honey did not attract it, nor did offensive odors, 
neither did the formidable turpentine annoy it. The organ 
of smeli, therefore, seems to reside in the mouth, or in the 
parts depending on it To those who may wish to try this ex- 
periment, we would recommend that they previously deprive 
the bee of a portion of his sting, which maybe easily done by 
forcing the insect to extrude it, and then nipping it off about 
midway with a pair of scissors ; the excision will not vitally 
injure the insect, and will give confidence to the experimenter 
in so doing. We car not conclude this disq'iisition on the 
sense of smell in bees, without gratifying our readers by ex- 
tracting from Dr. Bevan's work, a remarkable instance of its 
acuteness and delicacy, and which had been communicated to 
him by the son of the gentleman who is the subject of it It 
is generally believed that bees have an antipathy to particu- 
lar individuals, arising, probably, from some peculiar odor 
about, them, which, though not discernable by, or unpleasant 
to man, may be so to this sensitive insect. *.' M. de Hafer, 
Conseilhur d' Etat du Grand due de Baden" had for years 
been a proprietor and admirer of bees, and rivaled Wildman, 
in the power he possessed of approaching them with impuni- 
ty. He would at any time search for the Queen, take hold 
of her gently, and place her on his hand. But he w r as unfor- 
tunately attacked with a violent fever, and was for a long 
time confined by it. On his recovery, he attempted to re= 
same his favorite amusement among the bees, returning to 
them with all that confidence and pleasure which he had felt 
on former occasions ; when, to his great surprise and disap- 
pointment, he discovered that he was no longer in possess'on 



46 THE SENSES OF BEES. 

of their favor ; and that instead of being received bj them 
as an old friend, he was treated as a trespasser; nor was he 
ever able after this period, to perform an operation with them, 
or to approach within their precincs, without exciting their 
anger. Here, then, it was pretty evident that some change 
had taken place in the person ; the secretions had changed in 
cor sequence of the fever, which, though not noticeable by 
his friends, was offensive to the olfactory nerves of the bees." 

Functions of the Inmates of a Hive. — A hive consists 
of a Queen, or mother-bee, the Workers, or Neuters, as the 
ancients used to call them, varying in numbers from 5,000 to 
50,000, and the Drones, or male bees, from 500 to 5000, ac- 
cording to circumstances. Particulars will be given in anoth- 
er chapter. 

Functions of tfie Queen. The Queen is the parent of 
the hive, and her sole province and occupation consists in 
laying the eggs, from which originate those prodigious mul- 
titudes that people a hive, and emigrate from it in the course 
of a summer. In the height of the season, many times, her 
great fertility is truly astonishing, as she is capable of laying 
two and three thousand eggs per day, when everything is fa- 
vorable. The greot laying season usually commences with 
the warm weather, and lasts about three month* ; the month 
of May is usually the first laying lionth, but in these northern 
latitudes, the forwardness or backwardness of spring, has much 
to do with early breeding. If the colony is a prosperous one, 
and they have a fertile Queen, and well-protected hive, they 
will breed more or less the year round; in warm climates, bees 
increase rapidly every month in the year. A Queen usually 
commences laying worker-eggs about the fifth or sixth day of 
her age ; though many times they do not commence until 
they are ten or fif een days old. It is during the layin-j of 
worker-eg js, that the bees are led by their instinct to lay the 
foundation of royal cells, in which, if the population be abun- 



THE SENSES OF BEES. 47 

dant, the Queen deposits eggs at intervals of one or two clays 
between each. In the operation of laying, which we have 
many times witnessed, the Queen puts her head into a cell, 
and remains in that position a second or two, as if to ascer- 
tain whe'her it is in a fit state to receive the deposit, ^he 
then withdraw* her head, curves her body downwards, inserts 
her abdomen into the cell, and turns half round on herself; 
having kept this position a few moments, she withdraws her 
body, having in the meantime deposited an egg. The egg it- 
self, which is attached to the bottom of the cell by a glutin- 
ous matter, with which it is covered, is of a slender oval shape, 
slighily curved, rather more pointed in the lower end than 
in the other. She passes on from cell to cell, furnishing each 
with the germ of a future inhabitant ; and during these pro- 
ceedings, she receives the most, marked and affectionate at- 
tentions from the workers. She is seen continually surround- 
ed by a circle of them, who caress her fondly with their an- 
tennae, and occasionally supply her with food from their pro- 
boscis- This appearance has given rise to the notion com- 
monly entertained, and asserted even by some naturalists, 
that the Queen is followed in- her progress through the hive, 
by a number of her subjects, formed in a circle round her, and 
these of course, have been regarded as the Queen's body 
guard. The truth is, however, that her bee-majesty has no 
attendants, strictly speaking ; none who follow in her train ; 
but wherever she moves, the workers whom she encounters 
in her progress, instantly and hurried!^ clear the way before 
her, and all turning their heads towards their approaching 
sovereign, lavish their caresses upon her, with much apparent 
affection, and touch her softly with their antennse; and these 
are circumstances which may be observed every hour in the 
day, in a perfectly constructed glass hive. The moment she 
has left the circle, the bees who had surrounded her instant- 
ly resume their labors, and she passes on, and receives of ev- 



48 THE SENSES OF BEfcS. 

ery group in her way, the homage due to a Mother and a 
Queen. "On one occasion we gave her subjects an opportu- 
nity of testifying their courage in her defence, as well as 
their affection and zeal. Observing her laying eggs in the 
comb next to the glass of the hive, we gently, but quickly 
opened the pane, and endeavored to seize her. But as soon 
as the removal of the glass made room, (while shut it was 
almost in contact with her back,) and before we could accom- 
plish our purpose, they threw their bodies upon her, to the 
number of at least a hundred, and formed a cover over her of 
such magnitude, that she could not be less than two inches 
distant from any part of the surface. We dispersed the 
mass with our finger, and got hold of her precious person, 
and kept looking at her f »r some minutes, before we restored 
the captive to her alarmed defenders. It is remarkable that 
this violence was not resented by them ; though they cover- 
ed our hands in scores, while we kept hold of their mistress, 
not one individual used its sting. The all-engrossing object 
was the Queen. They maybe handled, and roughly too, 
with like impunity when they are swarming. Intent then, 
only on securing a habitation for themselves and their sover- 
eign, they seem incapable of any other idea at the same time, 
if we may use such an expression, and their natural irritabil- 
ity is not awakened to exertion." There is a fact connected 
with the instinct of the Queen, in laying her eggs, which de- 
serves particular notice, and which we have not seen stated 
by any other author on the subject of bees* When she has 
laved a cluster of eggs to the number of forty or fifty, more 
or less, according to circumstances, in one side of the comb 
instead of laying in all the empty cells in the same quarter, 
she removes to the othar side, and lays in the cells which are 
directly opposite to those which she has just supplied with eggs, 



*From the Edingburgh Philosophical Journal. 



THE SENSES OP BEES. 49 

and, generally speaking, this mode of proceeding is in ac- 
cordance with thai, wise arrangement which runs through all 
the operations of the bees, and is another effect of that re- 
markable instinct by which t-Hey are guided. For as they clus- 
ter closely in those parts of the comb wh'ch are filled with 
brood, in order to concentrate the heat that is necessary for 
their being hatched, the heat will of course penetrate to the 
other >\de, and some portion of the heat would be lost, if the 
cells on that side werj either empty or filled with honey or 
bee-bread. But when both sides are filled with brood, and 
covered with bees, the heat is confined to the spot where it is 
necessary, and it is turned to full account in bringing the 
young bees to maturity. 

The mutual aversion of Queens to each other, is a strik- 
ing feature in the history of this insect ; and though not 
strictly in place, one extraordinary effect of it may be men- 
tioned here. Their mutual enmity may truly be said to be 
an in-born disposition with them ; for no sooner has the first 
of its race, in a hive about to throw off a second swarm, es- 
caped from her own cradle, than -he hurries away in search 
of tho e of her rivals, and, as will be hereafter described, ex- 
erts herself with the most impetuous eagerness to destroy 
them. When two Queens happen to emerge from their cell 
at the same time, a pitched battle usually takes place, which 
ends ; n the death of one of the combatants, and sometimes 
both. 

Functions of the Working Bee. The Workers con- 
stitute the great mass of the population, and on them devolves 
the whole labor of the hive. Theirs is the office of search- 
ing for and collecting the precious sweet, which not only fur- 
nishes their own daily food, as well as that of the young in 
part, and a surplus of which is laid up for winter stores, but 
also, the material with which they rear their beautiful combs- 
E 



50 THE SENSES OF BEES. 

Ill the little basket-shaped cavity in their hind legs, they 
bring home the dust of farainceous -flowers, or fallen, knead- 
ed by the help of the morning dew into tiny balls, which form 
an important ingredient in the nourishment of the brood ; 
and also the propolis, or adhesive gum extracted from wil- 
lows, balm-gileads, pine and spruce, and the different kinds 
of balsamic trees, with- which they attach their combs to the 
hive, and also to fill up the cracks and crevices in the hive, to 
protect them against the inclemency of the w T eather. Ex- 
ploring a glass hive in a soft spring morning, following with 
his eye a bee loaded with farina, the observer will perceive 
the little active forager, on her arrival in the interior, hur- 
rying over the surface of the comb in search of a proper cell 
to deposit her burden ; and having found one, fastening her- 
self by the two fore-feet on its superior border, then bending 
he* body a little forward, so that her hinder feet may catch 
hold of the opposite edges ot the cell. In this position she 
is aext seen thrusting back her second pair of feet, one on 
each side, and sweeping with them from top to bottom, along 
tho two hinder legs, where tht farina balls are deposited, and 
by this means detaming them from the hairy linings of the 
cavities, and depositing them in the cells. To the Workers, 
also, are committed the various offices of guarding the en- 
trance of the hive by night and day during the honey season, 
— of repulsing marauders, — of keeping their abode free from 
all offensive matter, by renewing the air within by an ingeni- 
ous mode of ventilation, — of replacing a lost Queen, and of 
destroying the Drones at the decline of the honey- season. 
Receiving from nature these weighty charges, they labor as- 
siduously to fulfill them ; and, while each member of the 
community acts by the impulse of its individual instinct, it 
works less for private than the general good. These labors 
seem unceasing, yet do the w ary laborers sometimes snatch 



THE SENSES OF BEES. 5l 

an interval of repose. During the busy season, we have seen 
hundreds of the workers retiring into the cells, and exhibitit- 
ingall the marks of profound sleep. This fact is very easily 
observable, especially in those cells which are constructed, 
as sometimes happens, against the glass, and where that sub- 
stance forms one side of the cell. There they are, the fa- 
tigued laborers, stretched at full length, with their heads at 
the bottom, and every limb apparently in a relaxed state, 
while the little body is seen heaving gently from the process 
of respiration. 

It does not appear, however, that these naturalists were 
acquainted with the different functions, if the difference really 
does exLst,of the two classes. The office of the first class, 
according to Huber, is not only to collect honey, which both 
kinds do, but also to elaborate the wax and construct the 
combs. The particular function of the others, is to take 
care of the young. They may be distinguished in entering 
the hive, by carefully examining their shape ; the wax-work- 
ers having their bodies somewhat cylindrical, while those of 
the nur.-es retain their original figure. The anatomical struc- 
ture o. ifje two is said to be different, and the capacity of the 
stoniaen Lot the same ; so that the one species is incapable 
of fulfilling all the functions ot the other. Huber has also 
directed our attention to a class of workers, which he calls 
black bees, and which he first observed in 1809, and on sev- 
eral occasions from that time till 1813, In every thing they 
bear a perfect resemblance to their fellow workers, except in 
color, which in them is a deep black ; he describes them as 
persecuted by other workers, and finally expelled from the 
hive or destroyed. It is not impossible, as Kirby and Spence 
conjecture, that they are merely aged bees, and that their 
deeper color arises from the hair or down with which the 
young are covered, being w*orn off their bodies. 



52 THE SENSES OF BEES. 

I am aware much credit is due to Huber and his many 
valuable discoveries in Apiarian science,and also to Kirby and 
Spence. But as regards those black bees that Huber speaks 
of, I think they are the same kind of bees as the other work- 
ers. The color does not argue that they are a different spe- 
cies of bees, for we find that many insects and animal? of 
larger size, are of various colors, when in fact, they are of 
the same kind and species. I think that Huber is in an error 
when he asserts that there are two or more kinds of working 
bees, and that their functions are different. I believe on 
good authority, that all the working bees, in organization, are 
precisely the same, except thos? that may, perchance, partake 
of a portion of the royal jelly, when reared near the Queen 
cell ; such, no doubt, have been known to lay eggs that would 
hatch Drones. As regards a portion of the workers being 
nurses, and another portion of them to elaborate wax only, 
Huber may be right in his conjectures; but it is involved in 
much doubt. I think that the working bees are capable of 
doing any and every part of the labors of the hive, and that 
they do it in turn, as circumstances dictate. Why is it 
not as reasonable to suppose that the working-bee is a* r q>a- 
ble of doing any part of the work of the hive, as for a fanner 
to possess skill enough to perform any part of the labors of 
the farm ? 

In describing the functions of the working-bee, it would be 
improper to pass over unnoticed, the fact that it sometimes 
exercises the functions of a mother. (Mother of Drones 
only.) To account for this apparent anomaly, we must re- 
member it has been ascertained, by minutely accurate obser- 



Huber thinks he has ascertained that there are two kinds of Work- 
ers in a hive, one of which he calls wax-workers, and the other nurs- 
es. The difference between these bees had probably been observed 
by Pliny and Aristotle. Aristotle speaks of " optimum genus apum, 
qua breves, rarice, et in rotunditatem, compactibus ; secunda qua Ion 
etvespis similes." Pliny uses similar language. 



gee 



THE SENSES OF BEES. 53 

vations, and dissections, that all the workers are females, 
though of imperfect organization ; a fact confirmed by the 
very circumstances we are now discussing. We must also 
keep in mimi, that the larva of a Queen is nourished with 
food of a different kind from that of common bees, and this 
difference, in conjunction with a more roomy cell, has, in the 
opinion of naturalists, the effect of expanding the ovarum, 
and qualifying her to become a mother ; it is evident, there- 
fore, that if the larva of the common bee were fed with the 
royal jelly, the imperfection in her bodily organs would, as 
far at least as depended on the nature of the food, be re- 
moved, and she would become capable oi laying eg^s. Now 
this does, occasionally, take place ; some of the loyal food is 
dropped into the cells adjoining that of the Queen, and the 
bees therein reared acquire the power of laying eggs. This 
fact was discovered by the naturalist Ulan, and has been con- 
firmed by Huber. There is, however, a very material, and 
hitherto unaccounted for diffesence, between these fertile- 
workers and perfect Queens. The former, or fertile w T orkers, 
lay the eggs of males only. We would certainly have ex- 
pected, a priori, that a difference between them should exist ; 
because the workers have fed on royal jelly only for a short 
time, and because their birth-place is so much smaller. This, 
I think, is conclusive evidence why the fenile workers can 
lay nothing but Drone eggs; being reared in so small a cell, it 
would not give her ovaries a chance to expand, while, if this 
was the case, she would be a perfect Queen in every sense of 
the term. The f ict of her ovaries not being fully developed, 
is the very reason why she never leaves the hive soon after 
hatching, to meet the Drones, as the Queens usually do. 

These fertile workers are seldom found in any hive except 
those that have lost their natural Queen. The natural teim 
of the worker's. existence, does not extend, we think, beyond 
e^ 



54 THE SENSES OF BEhS. 

six or eight months. It is the opinion of Dr. Bevan, that all 
the bees brought into existence by the Queen's groat 1 -ying 
in spring, die before winter, J'utmar.y never reach that pe- 
riod ; showers of rain, violent blasts of wind, and sudden chan- 
ges of atmosphere, destroy them by hundreds. In the clear 
cold mornings and evenings of autumn, their eagerness for 
foraging entices them abroad eary and late, and when they 
alight on a flower or shrub, many of them become chilled and 
quickly perish. And should they escape the blighting atmos- 
phere at the close of autumn, a bright sunshine in a winter 
day, when the ground perhaps is covered with snow, brings 
them abroad in multitudes, and one tenth part of them never 
return. (See chapter on hires that are a sure prevent- 
ive against the loss of bees in winter, either in flying out, or 
dying in the hive.) From these causes, independent of the 
numbers which fall a prey to their many enemies a swarm 
which in July amounted to thirty or forty thousand, will, by 
the following February or March, have dwindled to a mere 
handful. It is otherwise with the Queen ; going seldom 
abroad, she is little exposed to accidents. Her natural life 
is prolonged to a period of three or four years, and there are 
instances on record, where they have attained to the age of 
five and six years. A more particular description will be 
given in the chapter on Queens. 

Functions of the Male, or Drone. The sole object of 
the Male, or at least the primary one, is to pair with the 
Queen ; he is the Father of the hive, or the "Gentleman Bee," 
as some of the ancients used to call them. Indolent and lux- 
urious, he takes no part in the internal operations of the dom- 
icil, and never leaves it with a view of sharing in the labors 
of the field. Whe^i he does fly abroad, it is only in the fin- 
est weather, and during the warmest part of the day, at which 
time the young Queens are instinctively.led to go out in search 



TI1E SENSES OF BEES. 55 

of the male- He is easily distinguished from the workers by 
his large size, his heavy motion in flight, and by his loud hum- 
ming sound. We have said that the primary functions of 
the Drone, are to perpetuate the race of bees by pairing with 
the Queen, but some naturalists have assigned them a second- 
ary office, namely, that of contributing, by their numbers, to 
the heat of the hive, and thus aiding in bringing the brood to 
maturity. Feburier informs us they are called hatchers, in 
many parts of the eastern continent. There are occasionally 
found Drones of a small size in hives where the impregnation 
of the Queen has leen retarded. Under these circumstan- 
ces, she indiscriminately lays in any of the cells, just as it 
happens; sometimes in Drone ceils, and sometimes in worker 
cell*. But in every instance where a Queen is not impreg- 
nated, her progeny will be all Drones, and all those hatching 
in worker cells will be much dwarfed in size, (and there is 
much doubt in the minds of many observers, that they are 
per'eet males,) owing to the smallness of their birth-place. 
The life of this vir grcgisis very short, as the favored Drone 
perishes in a few hours after his union with the Queen. (For 
a more particular description, see chapter on Drones.) As 
early as the first of August, the bees, as if wishing to apply 
the "preventive check" to superabundant idle population, be- 
gin to manifest deadly intentions towards them ; and the un- 
fortunate victims, as if to derive consolation from each other's 
society, or perhaps driven together by their irascible superi- 
ors, may be seen about that period, clustering closely togeth- 
er in some corner of the combs, where they remain without 
motion, and without once venturing to approach the provis- 
ion cells. Thus weakened by hunger and captivity, and dis- 
qualified for resistance from the want of a sting, thev fall an 
easy prey to their merciless assailants, and a scene of carnage 
•flakes place which is difficult to describe. The unhappy 



5G THE SENSES OF BEES. 

wretches are driven to the bottom of the hive, pursued with 
such fury that in spite of their strength, which is greatly su- 
perior to that of their persecutors, and which enables them to 
drag two or three of their assailants along the board; and 
even to fly off with them, they are unable to avoid the mortal 
thrust of their formidable stings, and expire inst ntanebuslv 
from the effects of the poison. But death o-erta es them in 
various form* ; for their enemies sometimes seize them by 
the wings, and with thi'ir strong mandibles gnaw them at the 
roots and prevent their flying. They may then be seen in 
numbers crawling on the ground, where they perish with cold, 
or are trampled under foot, and devoured by birds and frogs; 
such as e.-capefora while, may be seen flying from destruction, 
lighting on the shrubs and flowers to enjoy a moment's res- 
pite from their terrors, or buzzing about our win ows, or 
wandering from hive to hive, into which they no sooner en- 
ter than certain death awaits them. Nay, ?o bitter is the 
fury of their tormentors, that not satisfied with destroying 
these unhappy beings themselves, they tear from the cells 
such of the doomed race as are yet in embryo, the larvae or 
nymph, and destroy them without mercy, which but a few 
days before they nourished with so much care and affection. 
There are cases, however, where the massacre and destruc- 
tion of the Drones does not take place. " In hives that have 
lost their Queen," says Huber, " the males are spared, and, 
while a savage massacre rages in other hives, they here find 
an asylum. They are tolerated and fed, and many of them 
may be seen in January. The natural life of the Drone, 
when not killed by violence, has not as yet been fully estab- 
lished, but probably they would live to be nearly one year old 
when everything was favorable. 



IMPREGNATION OF THE QUEEN BEE. 




Anatomical view of the interior part of the Working Bee. 
showing the honey bag, or first stomach A, also the regular 
stomach B, the small intestines 0, and the rectum ; also, 
showing the extreme point of the body,sting,&c. A more par- 
ticular description of this plate will be given in another chap- 
ter, as this cut was overlooked and not inserted in the chapter 
on the Anatomy of the Bee, as it should have been ; I trust 
however, that the reader will appreciate it as well as though 
it had been inserted in its appropriate place. 



CHAHPER III. 



Impregnation of the Queen Bee. 

In looking into a hive in spring or summer, the Queen may 
be seen laying eggs in the cells ; in the smaller cells those of 
workers, and in the larger ones, Males or Drones. These 
eggs if examined on the fourth day of their being deposited, 
will be found hatched, and a small w T orm produced, which is 
floating in a whitish liquid, ascertained to be food introduced 



58 IMPREGNATION OF THE QUEEN BEE. 

for the nourishment of the infant brood ; and in due time a 
perfect bee emerges from the cell. The Queen lays the egg, 
and the insect evolves from it ; but how is the egg fecunda- 
ted or rendered fertile ? Has the Queen had personal union 
with the male ? No one can speak positively to such a fact. 
By what other means, then, is this effect produced ? The im- 
pregnation of the Queen bee, is a branch of Natural History 
which has given rise to more discussion than almost any oth- 
er fact connected with the nature of the insect. And, indeed, 
the difficulty, we might almost say impossibility, of obtaining 
anything like occular evidence on the subject, will readily ac- 
count for the diversity of opinions that has hitherto pre- 
vailed. And we should hope that this difficulty alone, and 
not any preconceived theory, or unreasonable prejudice, is 
the cause of that determined pertinacity with which the dis- 
coveries and conclusions of Huber, on this subject, are still 
in some instances rejected. That justly celebrated natural- 
ist instituted a course of experiments on the subject of the 
Queen's impregnation, the result of which leads to the con- 
clusion that it takes place high in the open air. 

"I shall relate in detail," says the celebrated Huber, "what 
was done by my Secretary and myself, on the 29th of June, 
1788. Aware that in summer the males usually leave the 
hive in the warmest part of the day, it was natural for me to 
conclude that if the Queens were obliged to go out for fecun- 
dation, instinct would naturally induce them to leave the hive 
at about the same hour of the male bee. At eleven o'clock 
in the forenoon, we placed ourselves opposite to a hive con- 
taining an unimpregnated Queen five days old- The sun had 
shone from its rising ; the air was very warm, and the males 
had begun to leave the hives in large numbers. We then en- 
larged the entrance of tne one selected for observation, and 
paid particular attention to the bees entering and departing. 



IMPREGNATION OF THE QUEEN BEE. 59 

The mains appeared and immediately took flight. Soon af- 
terwards the young Queen came to the entrance ; at first she 
did not fly, but during a little time traversed the board, 
brushing her belly with her hind legs ; neither males nor 
workers seemed to take any notice of her, and at last she took 
flight. "When several feet from the hive she returned and ap- 
proached it, as if to examine the place of her departure, per- 
haps judging this precaution necess ry to recognize it ; she 
then flew away. We immediately contracted the entrance, 
that she might not returned unobserved, and placed ourselves 
in the centre of the circle- which she made on the start of 
her flight, the more easily to follow her and witness all her 
motions. But she did not remain long in a situation favora- 
ble for our observations, and rapidly rose out of sight. We 
resumed o ir plac * before the hive, and in >even minutes the 
young Queen returned to the hive which she had left for the 
first time in her life. Having found no external evidence of 
fecundation, we allowed her to enter. In a quarter of an 
hour she reappeared, and brushing herself as before, took 
fligh', then returning to examine the hive, she arose sj high 
that we soon lost sight of he. This second absence was 
much longer than the first, occupying twenty-seven minutes. 
We now fouid her in a state quite different from that in which 
she was after her former excu sion ; the organs distended by 
a substance thick and hard, very much resembling that of the 
male, the Sj?cr?natora. But more evidence than mere re- 
semblance being requisite to establish that the female had re- 
turned with the prolific m itter of the males, we allowed this 
Queen to enter the hive and confined her there. In two days 
we found her belly swollen, and she had already layed over 
a hundred eggs in worker cells. To confirm our discoveries, 
we made several other experiments, and with the same suc- 
cess. On another experiment in July of the same year, the 
weather being very fine, a large number of males left the 



00 IMPREGNATION OF THE QUEEN BEE. 

hives, and we set- at. 1 berty a young virgin Queen, eleven 
clays old; (whose hive had always been deprived of Drones, 
or which had never brooded any.) having quickly left the 
hive she returned to examine it, and then rose out of sight ; 
she came back in a few minutes with evident marks of fecun- 
dation, th j same as the first one.^ 

It appears from our most scientific Apiarians, that the 
Queen b ! e never has n >r can b • impregnated in the hive, but 
always in the open air. It is better that the Drones for the 
Queen's impregnation, should be from anoth .*r colony, and 
still better from a neighboring Apiary ; hence the uselcss- 
ness of rearing Drones in every colony of bees, or even in 
every Apiary, especially in a bee country, for the more Drones 
there are, the less honey there will bo. See chapter on 
Drones for a more definite description and history. 

Retarded Impregnation. There is a fact connected with 
this part of the natural history of th? mother bee, which in- 
volves great difficulties. The fact itself was discovered by 
Huber, but its cause he was unable to develope, and no suc- 
ceeding nat Talist has been a'de to free it from the obscurity 
in which he has left it We mean the effect of retarded im - 
pregnation- These enve's are such as we could hardly cred- 
it, were not the fact confirmed by numerous experiments. If 
impregnation be delayed longer than twenty days from the 
Queen's birth, the consequence is, none but Drone eggs are 
laved, even during the whole life. 

I supppose the naturalist, means to assert that the egg the 
Queen lays will hatch a drone, whether it is deposited in a 
worker cell or drone cell. It appears from the many experi- 

*It will afterwards appear, that what we took for the generative 
matter, was the male organs left in the body of the Queen ; it is 
generally supposed by entomologists that the Drone never has but 
one union with the Queen in his whole life. If Huber's theory is 
correct, the reason why they do not is obvious. 



ARTIFICIAL QUEENS. 61 

merits of some of our ancient naturalists, that the Queen is ca- 
pable of laying eggs, even though a virgin Que-n that had 
never paired with the Drone; but in every instance they would 
hatch drones, whether I hey were deposited in drone cells or 
not. It is nothing very remarkable that a virgin Queen is ca- 
pable of laying egg*, but it is very strange that they should 
produce any kind of Bees. 

This phenomenon has baffled every attempt to explain its 
cause. " There are mysteries," observes Feburier, " in the 
rational as well as the irrational creation, which will, probably, 
forever rem iin mysteries to man.'' In the natural state of 
things, that is, when fecundation has not been postponed, the 
Queen lays worker eggs in forty-six hours after her unicn with, 
the male, and continues to do so for the sub- equcnt eleven months, 
providing there spare are cells in the hive for their reception. 

The conversion of a Worker Larva into a Queen. Bees, 
when deprived of their Quren, are endowed by nature with the 
power of remedying this calamity, by converting the larva of a 
worker into a royal one, and by means of a eell of a larger size, 
and of a peculiar kind of nourishment, producing a female that 
shall be to all intents and purposes, a Queen, or Mother bee, ca- 
pable of perpetuating her kind. The discovery of this singular 
fact, is generally attributed to Schirach, and, probably, with jus- 
tice : for although the practice of making a;tificial swarms, 
which can only be effected by causing the production of artificial 
Queens, is said to have prevailed amongst the modern Greeks 
and Italians, from a very early period, it does not follow, nor 
does it appear from any authentic documents, that they were 
aware of the reason why. The manner in which Schirach made 
the discovery, is interesting. Having used a great quantity of 
smoke in some of his operations, the bees were so annoyed bv it 
that numbers left the hive, and amongst them the Queen. Know- 
ing the consequence of her loss, he sought for her diligently, 
but in vain, Next morning he observed a cluster of bees about 
F 



62 ARTIFICIAL QUEENS. 

the size of an apple, on the prop of the hive whose Queen had 
fled ; here he discovered a Queen, and having carried her to the 
entrance of the hive which had lost its Queen, she was immedi- 
ately surrounded by the bees, and treated in such a manner, as 
plainly announced that she was their Queen. " What was my 
astonishment," he proceeds, "when wishing to introduce her 
amongst the combs, I saw that the bees remaining had already 
planned, and almost finished, three royal cells. Struck with the 
sagacity and activity of these creatures, to save themselves from 
impending ruin and destruction, I was filled with admiration and 
adored the infinite goodness of God, in the care taken to per- 
petuate His works. Having carried away iwo of the cells, to 
ascertain whether the bees would continue their operations, I be- 
held next morning, with the utmost surprise, that they had re- 
moved all the food from around the third worm left behind, on 
purpose to prevent its conversion to a Queen/' The fact of this 
power possessed by the bees, is so extraordinary, that its reality 
was at first called in cpiestionby several eminent naturalists, and, 
among others, the justly celebrated Bonnet. This naturalist 
was at last, however, convinced of its reality by experiments in- 
stituted by himself, and, satisfied that all the working bees are 
females of imperfect organization, expressed his opinion that the 
evolution of the germ is efiected by the action of the prolific 
matter as a stimulant, and as a substantial nutriment suitable for 
that purpose ; and he supposes that a certain quality of food, 
administered more copiously than in ordinary cases, may unfold 
those organs in the larva of the bees, that never would have ap- 
peared without it. He conceived also, that a habitation like a 
Queen-cell, considerably more spacious and differently placed, 
is absolutely necessary to the complete development of organs 
which the new nutriment may cause to grow in all directions. 
It furnishes a surprising evidence of the slow degrees by which 
scientific facts make their way, if not essential to general utility, 
when we consider that to this day, the knowledge of this singu- 



ARTIFICIAL QUEENS. 63 

larity in the natural history of this insect, is confined almost ex- 
clusively to Apiarians, and even neglected by seme of them. It 
has, however, been confirmed by so many experiments, instituted 
by many different individuals, that no unprejudiced mind can 
withhol 1 its assent to its truth. Extraordinary, however, as this 
fact is, it is not more so than many others, which have not at- 
tracted our particular notice, merely because they are familiar 
to us. 

" If we preserve the seed of a plant, 1 ' says Feburier, " for a 
series of years, and supply it with different nourishment and 
soil, and bestow upon it, different treatment f.om that which was 
destined for it by nature, we destroy its powers of fecundity ; the 
flower no longer possesses pistils or stamina, petals replace 
them, and announce the sterility of the plant ;" something anal- 
ogous to this holds true, it is said, in the case of one of our do- 
mestic quadrupeds. We find the twin calf, stinted as it has 
been for room, in the ovarium of its mother, and the recipient of 
but half the nourishment which would otherwise have fallen to 
its shnre, become in after years a barren cow. In case of the 
bee '• tj.o egg of the worker, placed in the royal cell, only pro- 
ducer ,.i. insect which has its powers more fully developed, in 
proportion to the ampler space which it occupies, but it acquires 
no new powers. The germ existed originally in the common 
bee, as well as in the mother bee, but the confined limits of its 
cell, and the want of the peculiar kind of food provided for the 
royal race, prevented its development." 

The proceedings of the bees in order to supply the loss of the 
Queen, are extremely interesting. In about twenty-four hours 
they are aware of the misfortune, that has befallen them, and with- 
hout loss of time, they set about repairing the disaster. Much de- 
pends upon the state of the weather, the size of the colony, whether 
it is in the midst of the honey season or not, and whether it is near 
the time of their swarming; if the latter, they will find it out in the 
course of five or ten minute, and in fact, much sooner, if the hive 



64 ARTIFICIAL QUEENS. 

should receive a bit of a rap ; in fact, many times the loss of the. 
Queen will be known to the bee? almost instantly ; then again, 
at other times, when the weather is cool, they may not realize 
her loss for several days. 

They fix upon a worm not more than three or four days old, 
demolish the three contiguous cells, and raise around it a regu- 
lar cylindrical enclosure. At the end of three days the work- 
ers change the direction of the cell, which has been hitherto 
horizontal, into a perpendicular posit'on, working downwards un- 
til it assumes something the appearance of an inverted core, 
about an inch long. In due time it is sealed over, and the larva 
undergoes its metamorphosis into a royal nymph. 

Huber gives a detail of some interesting experiments on this 
head, the substance only of which we can present to our read- 
ers. He deprived a hive of its Queen, and put into it some 
pieces of comb containing worker eggs. The same day several 
cells were enlarged by the bees and converted into royal cells, 
and the larvae supplied with a profusion of jelly. He then re- 
moved these worms from the royal cells, and substituted U-v 
them as many common worms from worker cells. The bees did 
not seem aware of the change ; they watched over them as in- 
tently as over those chosen by themselves. They continued en- 
larging the cells and closed them at the usual time. At the 
proper time two Queens were hatched, almost at the same mo- 
ment, of the largest size, and well formed in every particular. 
Nothing could be more conclusive than this experiment. It dem- 
onstrated that bees have the power to convert the worm of the 
worker into Queens, since they succeeded in procuring them by 
operating on worms not chosen by themselves, but selected for 
them. In addition to this conclusive experiment, we shall take 
the liberty of detailing two of our own, on the same subject, 
which were made several years ago, and which we have repeated 
several times since, with the same success. We give these ex- 



AITIFICIAL QUEENS. 65 

pertinents, not from any idea that ihose experiments of Hu« 
ber require confirmation, or that ours are of importance 
enough to supply any such supposed deficiency, but on the obvi- 
ous principle, that the more numerous the experiments, and the 
greater the diversity of experimenters, the more irrefragibly is 
the alleged fact established, if the result be uniformly the same. 
" In June, 1822," says an eminent observer, " we ii stituted an 
experiment with a view of witnessing a combat between two 
Queens, '' and the result as to that object will be hereafter notic- 
ed. It was only accidentally that w^ derived from it a confir- 
mation of the fact in question, anJ we shall now state the par- 
ticulars. 

We took a hive well peopled, but not possessing, as far as we 
could discover, any very young brood ; we introduced a stran- 
ger Queen, with the expectation that the two rival potentates, 
each of whom, like the Jealous Turk, can bear no rival near her 
throne, would decide by single comba', which of them should 
retain the honors and privileges of royalty. We contemplated 
the possibility of both falling in the conflict at the same moment, 
an instance of such a calamity having come to our knowledge ; 
therefore with a view of remedying such an evil, if it should 
occur, and thus of p eventing the total destruction of the hive, 
we took a piece of comb from another hive containing worker 
eggs, and worms of the proper age, according to the direc ions of 
Huber, and fixed it in the experimental hive, so that the bees 
might rear for themselves a new Queen, should the combat ter- 
minate in the death of both. To our astonishment, for at this 
time both Queens were alive, we saw the bees next morning, 
busily occupied in building a royal cell in the new piece of 
comb. They had demolished two or three cells adjoining the 
one they had pitched on for the royal cradle, and were now ea- 
gerly laboring at its enlargement ; giving it a circular instead 
of a hexagonal form and bestowing unceasing attention on the 

larva it contained. During the day the royal cell made consid- 
1* 



66 ARTIFICIAL QUEENS. 

erable progress, and in the afternoon of the day following, it ex- 
tended about half an inch vertically, and the next day it advanc- 
ed rapidly ; the worm had attained to a great size, and the bees 
were unwearied in feeding it. On the fifth day the cell was 
sealed, and on the fourteenth a young Queen wa. hatched, but 
her enjoyment of life and liberty was very short. She was in- 
stantly surrounded by a mass of bees, who hemmed her in so 
closely, that but a very small part of her body was visible. She 
made many painful and unavailing struggles to escape and emit- 
ted every minute a plaintive sound. A.11 the while the reigning 
Queen. (for the stranger had by this time been dispatched, though 
not in our sight,) occupied herself in laying eggs, often within 
an inch or two of the prisoner, and going about her avocations 
with as much unconcern as if she knew that her subjects would, 
of themselves, soon and effectually rid her of her puny rival. In 
two hours from her birth, accordingly, the body of the young 
queen dropped lifeless from the dense mass of bees of her inex- 
orable guard. 

Of the other experiment which we are now to detail, the sole 
object was to prove the existence of the power inherent in bees, 
of rearing an artificial Queen, when deprived by any accident of 
their original Mother. This, indeed, had been proved by the ex- 
periments above detailed, but only accidentally, and we were anx- 
ious by an experiment instituted especially for that object, and 
conducted with minute and scrupulous accuracy, to put the mat- 
ter out of all doubt, in our own minds at least. 

Iu July our experimental hive was full of bees, brood and 
honey ; the Queen was very fertile, and laying at the rate of 
more than 500 eggs per day ; we opened the hive and carried 
her off. For about eighteen hours the bees continued their la- 
bors as earnestly and contentedly as if the Queen were still with 
them. At the end of that time they became aware of their loss, 
and all was instantly tumult and agitation ; the bees hurried 
backwards and forwards over the combs with a loud noise, rush- 



ARTIFICIAL QUEENS. t> I 

ed in crowds to the door and out of the hive, as if going to 
swarm, and, in short, exhibited all the symptoms of bereavement 
and despair. Next morning they had laid the foundation of five 
royal c lis, having demolished the three cells contiguous to each 
of those that were to become royal cells, and by the afternoon 
there were visible the rudiments of four more royal cells, in all 
quarters of the combs, where before were nothing but eggs and 
common larvae of one or two days old. Two of these royal 
cells advanced more rapidly than the rest, probably from the 
larvae being of an age the fittest for the purpose ; four came on 
more slowly, and three made no progress after ihe third day 
On the seventh day the two first were sealed, and two more 
nearly so. but neither of these nor any of the rest advanced farth- 
er, as if the bees were satisfied th.it they had succeed e 1 in getting 
at least one Queen, and judged it unnecessary to carry forward 
the others to maturity. On the morning of the fourteenth day 
from the removal of the old Queen, a young one emerged from 
her cell, strong and active, and exactly resembling those produc- 
ed in the naural way. While watching her motions, I saw her 
hasten to the other royal cell, and attempt to tear it open, doubt- 
less with the intention of killing its inmate ; but the workers 
pulled her violently back, and continued to do so as often as she 
renewed the assault. At every repulse she assumed a sulky a- 
titude, and emitted the shrill monotonous p ep, peep, peep, so 
well known to bee masters, while the ur hatched Queen emitted 
the samo kind of sound, but in a hoarser tone, the consequence 
of her confined situation ; and this, by the way, accounts for the 
two different sounds which are generally heard from a hive on 
the eve of throwing off a second swarm. The shrill sound pro- 
ceeds from the reigning queen, and seems to express her rage 
and disappointment at being baffled by the watchful guardians of 
the unhatched Queen, from whom the hoarse sound comes. In 
the afternoon of the same diy, the last mentioned female left her 
cell ; we saw her come forth in majesty, finely and delicately 



68 AHTIFICIAL QUEENS, 

formed, but smaller than the other. She immediately retirel 
within a cluster of workers, and we lost sight of her. Next 
morning, on opening the shutter of the hive, we perceived a 
younger Queen rushing apparently in great terror across the 
surface of the comb, and hurrying around the edge of it to the 
other side, and in the next moment the other royal personage 
came in sight, hotly pursuing her rival. We now fully expect- 
ed to witness Ruber's Combat of Queens, and were about to 
wheel round the hive to witness the affray, when business 
called us away. In half an hour we returned, hoping we might 
be in time, but all was over ; the younger queen was 1\ ing upon 
the alighting board on her back, in the pangs of death, newly 
drugged out by the bees, and doubtless the victim of her jealous 
senior. 

We observed two circums ances respecting these artificial 
Queens, which may be noticed here, though rather, perhaps, out 
of place ; one of them agreeing perfectly with the experience 
of Ruber, while the other is at variance with it. While the 
surviving Queen remains a virgin, not the slightest mark of at- 
tention or respect is shown to her by the bees ; not one gave her 
food, and she wus obliged as often as she required it, to help 
herself, and in crossing to the hon°y cells for that purpose, she 
had to scramble, often with great difficulty, over the crowd, not 
an individual of which got out of her way, or seemed to care 
whether she fed or starved. But no sooner did she become a 
mother, than the scenp was changed indeed, and they were at- 
testing their affection and regard; one after another presented 
her with food, and at every step of her progress, a circle was 
formed around her by her admiring subjects. The other circum- 
stance alluded to, which varies from the experiments of Huber, 
respects the vigilance of the workers in such cases, and the sound 
emitted by the Queens. He says that the workers form no guard 
around the cells of artificial Queens, and that these last are per- 
fectly mute ; and the naturalist makes some remarks by way of 



ARTIFICIAL QUEEN3. 69 

accounting for it. The above experiments are directly in con- 
tradiction to this * The cell of the younger Queen was most 
strictly guarded, and both emitted the sound alluded to, perhaps 
once every minute, for several hours together. To these experi- 
ments we have only to add, farther, that as already stated, we 
have very frequency repeated the same operations, with similar 
success, and that in the summer of 1832, we removed the reign- 
ing Queen of the same experimental hive, three times success- 
ively, suffering each Queen to remain just long enough to lay a 
score of ea-gs before her removal, and each time the workers laid 
the foundations of five or six royal cells, and brought two or 
three Queens to maturity. Within the space of six weeks we 
saw the foundations laid of fourteen or fifteen royal cells, and 
at the last removal, no fewer than three Queens were visible at 
the same moment, on the surface of ihe combs ; yet we had not 
the good fortune to witness a regular combat between any two 
of them ; the first hatched of the three we had reason to con- 
clude dispatched two of her rivals, but without our witnessing 
the deed of death. The third we saw her sting repeatedly, at 
the instant of the former emerging from her cell, and without 
any attempt on the part of the others to restrain her. The 
wounded Queen had strength enough to move a few inches across 
the comb, when she paused and seemed to sicken from the effect 
of the venom ; she moved again with a very languid step, an 
inch or two, and then stopped, her limbs became visibly paral- 
ized, and in a few minutes she dropped lifeless to the bottom of 



*Both these experimenters may be in the right in regard to the 
guarding of the Queen cell, whenever the lives of the Queens yet 
unborn, are in danger from the wrath of the reigning Queen, or sev- 
eral Queens are about to emerge from the cells at about the same 
time ; many times prior to their swarming, it is the case that there 
are one or two Queens about hatching, and should the weather be 
unfavorable, then to prevent the loss of one or two Queens, under 
these circumstances the workers may be observed guarding the em- 
bryo Queen from the old Queen, or keeping the young Queen prison- 
er until after a swarm has issued, with which the old Queen will go. 



70 ARTIFICIAL QUEENS. 

the hive. From these experiments, it seems now a fact establish- 
ed beyond all doubt, that bees can at all times procure a Queen 
for themselves, provided they have a comb containing larvee not 
more than three days old, in the common or worker cells, and 
that nothing but certain important conditions, such as a particu- 
lar kind of food and more spacious lodgment, are requisite to 
the conversion of common larvae into Queens. At the same 
time it ought to be candidly confessed, that while the fact itself 
seems now completely established, there are circumstances con- 
nected with it which we are unable satisfactorily to explain. 
That a more abundant supply of food of a more stimulant quali- 
ty, administered in a cell of larger dimensions, should give full 
development of organs, which, by the ordinary treatment, would 
have remained but partially developed, we can readily compre- 
hend ; but that such extra supply of food and space should ef- 
fect such an absolute change in the anatomical structure and in- 
stinctive propensities — should produce a more slender probos- 
cis — deprive the transformed insect of the downy brushes at the 
joints of her limbs, and the basket-shaped cavities in the poste- 
rior pair of legs, for retaining the pellets of farina — and above 
all, should effect so great an alteration in her instincts, rendering 
them, in numerous particulars, entirely different from those of the 
worker class, for which she was originally designed — these are 
circumstances which, notwithstanding all our researches, are still 
involved in mysterious obscurity, and furnish ample scope for fu- 
ture investigations. 

General Remarks upon the Queen. — It appears from numer- 
ous experiments, that the Queen lives to the age of three and 
four years, but is not to be depended upon as a fertile Queen, 
over three years, and seldom over two and a half, an 1 that one 
impregnation is amply sufficient for her whole life, and receiving 
it from one single Drone. 






OVABIES OF THE QUEEN. 



71 




Figure 7. 

Ovaries of the Queen* 
The female organs consist principally of the ovaries, the ovi- 



(2 OVARIES OF THE QUEEN. 

ducts, the sperm reservoir, and the ovapositor. In the ovaries 
the eggs are formed and matured, and remain there until render- 
ed fit for impregnation, and the other circumstances necessary for 
their maturation, to pass through the oviducts. According to 
Mr. Hunter, what are called ovaries, are really ducts ; the eggs 
therefore, are not formed as in other families in a cluster on the 
back, but in those ducts, of which there are several on each side. 
When full of eggs, they form a kind of quadrangle, these seve- 
ral ducts uniting on each side in one duct ; this latter enters a 
common duct at E, both sides of which may be called the vagina, 
or ovapositor. The common oviduct is the canal through which 
the eggs pass from the ovaries to the ovapositor The sperm 
reservoir D, is the reservoir in the organ which, according to 
Herroid, receives the impregnating spermatora of the Drone. 
A represents the poison bag attached to the sting ; H. C. rep- 
resents the ovaries ; R represents a portion of the rectum. The 
Queen when she deposits an egg in a cell, when the egg passes 
the spermatheca it receives its impregnation, especially if it is 
to be deposited in a worker cell ; it is a well known fact that 
the Queen can deposit an egg in the drone cell, and it will 
hatch a male without any impregnation at all ; when she depos- 
its an egg in a worker cell, she has to compress her body some- 
w T hat on account of the cell being smaller than the Drone cell, 
and, in fact, smaller than her own body, and in so doing, when the 
egg passes the spermatheca, it receives its impregnation. For 
farther particulars, see chapter on Queens, Impregnation, Artific- 
ial Queens, &c. 



ARCHITECTURE OF BEES. 73 



CITAPTR IV. 



Architecture of Bees. 

The peculiarity of instinct in the different orders of ani- 
mals, if pursued through all its variations, would supply us 
all with an inexhaustible fund of admiration and instruction; 
and in none of the lower animals is this wonderful faculty 
more worthy of our notice andjnvestigation, than in the Honey 
Bee. So uuv h has already been said and written on this 
particular point, that the subject is pretty nearly exhausted. 
We should perhaps find, notwithstanding, but little difficulty 
in treating' our readers with an additional disquisition on the 
same subject, but as we do not pretend to be able to give a 
more satisfactory elucidation of the mysteries of animal in- 
stinct, than has already been furnished by worthy writers 
upon Apiarian science, who are well entitled to our respect, 
we shall restrict ourselves to one or two brief remarks, hav- 
ing special reference to this chapter. It has been said of 
instinct generally, that, taking the least out of its way, it 
seems an undistinguishing, limited faculty, and blind to any 
circumstance that do^s not immediately respect self-preserva- 
tion, or support of the species. As far as the instinct of bees 
is concerned, this max'm must be taken in a qualified sense, 
for there are numerous instances in the proceedings of this 
insect in which instinct does vary, and conform to thecircuni- 
stai ces of place and convenience ; and in no part of their 
economy do we see more striking instances of this half rea- 
soning faculty, than in their architecture. In ordinary ope- 
rations, such as collecting their food, feeding their young, 
following their Queen. &c, they are prompted doubtless, by 
pure and simple instinct. In avoiding danger, and in return- 
ee 



74 ARCHITECTURE OF BKE3. 

ing to the spot where food has formerly been provided for 
them, they seem guided by an exercise of memory, a faculty 
which they appear to possess in a con>iderable degree. But 
in adapting their waxen struc ures to change of circumstan- 
ces, and so as to overcome any artificial obstacles; in building 
comb upwards, contrary to their natural mode of procedure ; 
in building laterally, when unable to find a sure foundation 
for their works, either above or below, curving their combs, 
and constructing them angularly, when avoiding some inter- 
posing substance having a smooth or glassy surface; — these 
are result? which seem to manifest something more than sim- 
ple instinct ; they afford a wonderful proof of the resources 
of this faculty when compelled to deviate from the ordinary 
course ; they imply, in fVt, the possession of a certain de- 
gree of intellect, or of reasoning power, by which their in- 
stinct is modified and counteracted. We cannot, indeed, but 
be filled with astonishment, when we see their ingenious ex- 
pedients in getting the better of difficulties which would not 
have occu creel in their natural state, and with admiration of 
the wusdom and goodness of the Almighty Parent, so con- 
spicuously visible even in the unconscious instinctive opera- 
tions of these tiny creatures of His hand. 

The material of which the bees construct their beautiful 
combs, which deserve so much admiration, is wax, the nature 
and production of which will be mentioned and discussed in an^ 
another chapter. No sooner has a swarm of bees been safely 
lodged in a hive, than the industrious laborers commence the 
operation of building. One portion of the population em- 
ploys itself in cleaning out the new abode, whilst a large num- 
ber of them hasten to the fields, some of them to collect honey, 
the saccharine part of which is the source of the wax used in 
constructing the combs, together with propolis, which is a 
tenacious substance (see chapter on propolis,) employed in 
fixing the less adhesive wax to the roof of the hive, and stop- 



ARCHITECTURE OF BEES. 75 

ping up cracks and crevices that may give entrance to ver- 
min, rain, or cold- On their return, those that have been oc- 
cupied in collecting honey, cluster closely together at the top 
of the hive, and, suspended from each other by their hooked 
claws, form a variety of fantastic, and often graceful figu.es, 
such as festoons, curtains, chains, ladders, &c, crossing each 
other in every direction. They seem sunk into profound in- 
activity, which continues about twenty-four hours. The in- 
activity however, is only apparent; the time which they pass 
in this seeming repose, is doubtless necessary for the elabora- 
tion of the w T ax. But in the center of the mass, one worker 
has left its fellows and laid the foundation of its future struc- 
ture ; it is succeeded by several others, each of whom 
singly and separately contributes its quantum of material and 
skill, to the rising edifice, while succeeding bands of nurse- 
bees busy themselves in finishing, and polishing the work 
which the wax-workers have left in a rough unpolished con- 
dition ; for it is to be observed that in the construction of 
the combs, the two classes, -wax workers and nurse-bees, have 
their distinct and separate provinces ; the wax- workers are 
to supply the rough materials and attach thern closely togeth- 
er, and the nurse, or finishing-bee, finishes and perfects the 
edifice ; and while these last arc occupied in the more refined 
operations of finishing and polishing, the former, like in- 
dustrious laborers, are continually bringing forward addition- 
al loads of materia 1 . One comb is scarcely begun, or con- 
tains not more than two or three rows of cells, when the busy 
architects proceed to lay the foundation of others, on each 
side of the one already founded, continuing their operations 
in this manner, till they have taken the whole range of their 
building ground ; and, with such diligence do they ply their 
labors, that in one day, during the height of the honey sea- 
son, they will construct from four to five thousand cells. A 
comb measures in thickness, generally speaking, one inch, 



76 ARCHITECTURE OF BEES. 

and the interval between combs, is usually about one-third or 
three-eighths of an inch, affording a passage for two bees to 
pass each other back to back, without obstruction or in- 
convenience. These dimensions, however, are varied accord- 
ing to circumstances. At the top of the hive the comb is 
usually much thicker, consequently the road-way is contracted. 
This is no inconvenience to the bees, for after the honey-cells 
are sealed, they have seldom occasion to visit that quarter of 
the hive, and can, therefore, put up with less room there. 
When the beeding season returns, however, these cells are 
all reduced to their original size, if emptied of their contents, 
and thus fitted for the reception of brood.* The combs, at- 
tached as they are to the roofs of the hive descend vertically. 
Unlike human builders they begin their work at the top of 
the building or ceiling, and suspend their structure from 
above. This is their usual method of procedure, but cir- 
cumstances sometimes induce them to vary from this rule. 
The following is an instance from our personal observation : 
We put a swarm into our experimental hive, which is so thin as 
to admit of oi ly one comb being constructed. Its confined 
limits prevented any considerable number of bees from work- 
ing at the foundation of the comb above. A laiye portion of 
them began a comb, or rather two, on the rod which crosses 
the middle of the hive, and thus two combs were constructed 
at the same time, both of which ultimately became one. It 
appeared, however, that there was still a want of room, and 
of employment for those willir g and industrious laborers ; 
for to our surprise, a portion of tnem began a comb on the 
upper side of the cross rod, and, contrary to their natural 
mode of proceeding, worked upwards, so that in a short time 
the upper comb and the central piece met, and the whole 
formed ultimately, one solid square. The surface of a new 



*See Chapter on Hives, where we have abetter way than to allow 
the bees to attach their combs to the roof of the hive. 



ARCHITECTURE OE BEES. 77 

comb is not quite flat, but perpendicular ; that is its thickness 
decreases towards the edges, and consequently the latest 
made cells are shorter or shallower than the others. So long- 
as the comb has not reached its utmost limits, this shape is 
preserved ; but when the bees have no more room for its 
enlargement, they make all the cells of equal depth, and thus 
it obtains two flat equal surfaces, which it will continue to re- 
tain unless in other circumstances. Should it be broken 
by any means, the edges of what remains must be reduced 
agaui to its perpendicular shape, before the bees can repair 
the structure, and prolong it to its former dimensions. This 
happens also when the hive is enlarged, by giving it what is 
called in Scotland, an eek or addition below. Previous to 
availing themselves of the added room, the bees reduce the 
thickness of the edges of the combs. When new, the combs 
are of a remarkably pure white color, but soon assume a yel- 
lowish hue, and when a year o'd, are of a deep brown. This 
discoloration is believed by many to arise from the vapor or 
heated air of the hive ; but it is attributed by Huber, errone- 
ously we think, to some direct action on the part of the bees, 
which are seen frequently rubbing the surface of the comb 
with their fore feet. In the construction of the cells, the 
bees adopt the hexagonal form, consisting of six equal 
sides, and begin their operations at the bottom, prolonging by 
degrees the pannels or sides. The bottom of the cells are 
composed of three rhombs or plates of wax, in the shape some- 
what of lozenges, or card-diamond seeds, and disposed in such 
a manner as tofurm a hollow pyramid. " The apex of each 
pyramidal bottom, on one side of the comb, forms the angle 
of the basis of the three cells on the opposite side, the three 
lozenges respectively concurring in the formation of the braces 
of the same cells." The whole structure is so delicately 
thin, that it takes half a dozen of them when placed side by 
side to equal the thickness of a sheet of paper. But, by the 
admirable disposition and arrangement of its parts, " each 



78 ARCHITECTURE OF BEES. 

cell, separately weak, is strengthened by coincidents with 
others. The bottom of each cell rests upon three partitions 
or panels of opposite cells, from which it receives a great 
accession of strength." Besides, each cell is strengthened 
at its mouth, by a strong thread formed of the mixture of wax 
and propolis, soldered to the inner surface or edges, and giv- 
ing it, by filling up the angles, a circular form. This gives 
great solidity to the fabric, and prevents the mouth of the cell 
from being easily injured by the unceasing ingress and egress 
of the bees. 

It is remarksble that the cells of a honey comb, including 
the hexagonal sides, and its pyramidal bans, is the figure of 
all others, the best adapted for containing the greatest possi- 
ble quantity, in the least possible space, and with the least 
expense of material. " There are only three possible figures 
of the cells,' : says Doct. Keid, " which can make them all 
equal and similar without any useless insterstiees. These are 
the equilateral triangle, the square, and the regular hexagon." 
Of these the hexagon is best fitted for the bee-cell, for it 
unites to the requisites stated by Doct. Reid, economy of 
material, and a figure better adapted to the shape of the in- 
sect. This latter property would have been possessed in a 
greater degree by the cylindrical form, but it would have left 
a space between every three contiguous cells. The square 
and the triangle would have left no insterstiees, but would 
have consumed more wax, and been ill-adapted to the shape 
of the bee. The hexagonal form employed, embraces all 
the requisites ; for, together with a convenient figure for the 
reception of the body of the insect, it secures economy of 
material, and economy of space, both as respects the number 
of cells contained in a comb, and the internal capacity of 
each. The same, if possible, still more admirable skill and 
arrangement, are displayed in the basis of the cell. The 
three rhombuses of which it is composed, have the two ob- 



ARCHITECTURE OP BEES. 79 

tuse angles, each of 110 degrees, and, consequently, each of 
the two acute angles of 70 degrees. This measurement 
was taken by Maraldi, and it was verified by Koenig, a cele- 
brated mathematical! and pupil of Bernouilli, who, on being 
desired by Reaumur to calculate the quantity that should be 
given to this angle, in order to employ the least wax possi- 
ble in a cell of the same capacity, found that the angle in 
question ought to be 109° 26', or 110° nearly; the very 
ang'e which the insect adopts. What a surprising agree- 
ment ! A difficult mathematical problem is proposed for so- 
lution to a man of profound science, and it is found that an 
insect, called the Honey Bee, instructed by the Fountain of 
Wisdom, ha? anticipated the calculations of Geometry, and 
practically exhibited in its waxen structures, the same con- 
clusion precisely, which the philosopher arrived at only by 
the exercise of considerable ingenuity and deep thought ! The 
calculation has also been verified by a distinguished Geome- 
trician, Maclaurin, who very justly observes, that "the bees 
do truly construct their cells of the best figure, net only 
nearly, but with exactness ; and their proceedings could not 
have been more perfect from the greatest knowledge of geon - 
etry." " After all," as Doct. Reid remarks, "the geometry 
is not wholly in the bee, but in the great Geometrician who 
made the bee, and made all things in number, weight, and 
measure." The cells in a honey comb ate of different di- 
mensions, according to the different classes of bees of which 
they form the birth-place. Those of the workers are in depth 
about five lines, or less than half an inch, and in diameter two 
and two-fifth lines. Those of the males are between six and 
seven lines in depth, and 3 and one-third in diameter; taking 
thirty-two of them to make a square inch, including both 
sides of the comb, while of the worker cells it takes fifty to 
make an inch. L'oth of these are ultimately employed as 
receptacles for storing honey. The male or drone cells are 



80 ARCHITECTURE OF EEES. 

few compared with those of workers, which last, generally 
compose the whole of the central portions of the hive, while 
the drone ceils are most frequently constructed in the extrem- 
eties of combs, at some distance from the center. It is curi- 
ous to note the proceedings of bees when about to pass from 
the construction of worker cells to those of drones. They do 
not all at once commence the latter of their full diameter ; 
such a proceeding would utterly disorder the delicate ar- 
rangement of the basis of the cells; but they build a few 
rows of intermediate cells, whose diameter augments pro- 
gressively, "ntil they gain the proportion required. And 
in returning to those of workers, a similar gradation is rigid- 
ly observed. The irregularity apparent in these transition 
cells, has been accounted a defect; it is, on the contrary, an 
additional instance of that wise instinct which teaches them to 
quit the ordinary mode of proceeding, when circumstances 
demand the construction of enlarged cells, and after building 
thirty or forty rows of them, to return to the proper propor- 
tions from which they have departed, by successive reduc- 
tions. Both of th< se kinds of cells being nearly horizontal, 
it may seem surprising that they can be filled with, and retain 
the honey fluid. The fact is, however, that they are not 
horizontal, but are elevated at an angle of never lesstha.i 5° 
and sometimes, when the honey is rendered peculiarly thin by 
the warmth of the season, and the internal heat of the hive, 
at not less than from 15° to 20° above the level of the hori- 
zon. We have often observed in ihe month of July and Au- 
gust, when the weather was very favorable for the storing up 
of honey, and the secretion of wax, the bees eagerly engaged 
in forming cells designed for honey only, and differing materi- 
ally from those which were, in the first instance, for the recep- 
tion of eggs. The texture of the former is thinner, and dieir 
strength much greater, and as honey at this season of the 
year is very thin and fluid-like, these cells are by a wise in- 



ARCHITECTURE OF BEES. 8l 

stinct, made with a much greater dip, or inclination, than the 
ordinary ones, that there may be less risk of the honey run- 
ning out before the cells are sealed over. Doubtless, also, 
the honey is prevented from escaping partly by its own vis- 
cusity, and partly by the force of capillary attraction. For 
if we carefully examine a cell v\hen nearly full, it will be ob- 
served that the surface of the fluid is nearly concave, from its 
adhesion to the side of the cell. It will also be observed 
how ingeniously the bees seal up their treasure. They first 
form a ring of wax around the inside of the mouth of the 
cell, and to this first ring additional ones are supplied, as the 
increased deposit of honey renders necessary, until at last the 
opening is completely sealed up by a succession of concentric 
rings. Besides the cells of workers or males, we find during 
the swarming season other cells, to the number of six, eight, 
ten, or even twelve, differing altogether from those first 
named. These are the royal cells or cradles for the infant 
queens. They are found a'most always upon the edges of 
the combs, of such particularly as extend but half way 
across the interior. These cells are constructed, not entirely 
of wax, Mr. Hunter thinks, but of a mixture of that sub- 
stance with farina. Their position is almost vertical, and 
somewhat resembling a hangng acorn. Their dimensions 
are about one inch in length, and about one-third of an inch 
in diameter.^ 

Their oblong cylindrical form, smoothly polished within, 
and covered externally with a kind of net-work, gives them 



* After the Queen has emerged from the cell the workers usually 
gnaw them away, so there is nothing left of them to show their lo- 
cality only a waxen cup, resembling somewhat the shell of an acorn, 
which can be noticed in almost any hive that is over a year old, 
when taking them up in the Fall after giving them a dose of brim- 
stone, as many bee keepers do, for the sake of getting a few pounds 
of sulphur-scented honey. See chapter on Hives and surplus honey, 
where brimstone is never administered. 



82 ARCIIITECTURE OF BEES. 

the resemblance of a susi ended stalactite, and announces a 
particular destination. In fact, the imposing appearance of 
this cradle, and the profusion of materials expended on it, 
which is such that one of them out-weighs a hundred com- 
mon cells, point it out as destined for receiving the most impor- 
tant personage of the whole colony, the Mother and Queen. 

In the architectural operations of bees, the modus operandi 
has been minutely detailed in the writings of Huber and oth- 
er celebrated naturalists. Their observations and discoveries 
on this branch of natural history are calculated to excite 
the deepest interest, and we regret that our limits oblige us 
to forego the pleasure of recording from them many valuable 
extracts. We cannot, however, omit one extract from the 
celebrated Huber, which strikingly proves, that though the 
bees when left to themselves regulate their operations with 
perfecty uniformity, they are yet capable of modifying them 
in particular circumstances. 

" Having seen bees," says he " work both upwards and 
downwards, we wished to investigate whether we could com- 
pel them to construct their combs in any other direction. 
We tried to confine them with the hive glazed above and be- 
low, so that they had no place of support but the upright 
sides of their dwelling ; lodging themselves in the upper an- 
gle, they built their combs perpendicular to one of these 
sides, and as regularly as those which they usually built un- 
der a horizontal surface. I now put them to a still greater 
trial : as they now testified their inclination to carry the 
combs in the shortest way to the opposite side of the hive, 
for they prefer uniting them to wood, or a surface rougher 
than glass, I covered it with a pane of the glass. When- 
ever this smooth and slippery substance was interp ised be- 
tween ! hem and the wood, they departed from the straight 
line hitherto followed, and bent the structure of their combs 
at a right angle to what was already made, so that the pro* 



ARCHITECTURE OF BKE3, 83 

longation of the extremity might reach another side of the 
hive which had been left free. Varying this experiment af- 
ter seveial fashions, I saw the bees constantly change the 
direction of their comb:-; when I approxi nated a surface too 
smooth to admit of their clustering on it, they always sought 
the wooden sides. I thus compelled them to curve the combs 
in the strangest shapes, by placing a pane of glass a certain 
distance from their edges. These results indicate a d< gree of 
instinct truly wonderful. They denote even more than in- 
stinct ; for glass is not a substance against which b u es can 
be warned by nature. In trees, their natural abode, there is 
nothing like it or that resembles it, or with the same polish . 
the most singular part of their proceeding is changing the di- 
rection of the work before a/ riving at the glass, and while yet 
at a distance far enough from it to allow them to do so. Do 
they anticipate the inconvenience which would attend any 
other mode of building 1 No less curious is the plan adopt- 
ed by the bees for procuring an angle in the combs ; the 
wonted fashion of the work, and the dimensions of the cells 
must be altered. Therefore the cells upon the upper or con- 
vex side of the comb are enlarged ; they are constructed of 
three or four times the width of those on the opposite surface. 
How can so many insects, occupied at once on the edges of 
the combs, concur in giving them a common curvature from 
one extremity to the other? How do they resolve on estab- 
lishing cells so small on one side, while dimensions ?o large 
are bestowed on those of the other ? And it is still more 
singular that they have the art of making a correspondence be- 
tween cells of such reciprocal discrepance ; the bottom 
being common to both, the tubes alone assume a taper form. 
Perhaps no other insect has afforded a t more decisive proof of 
the resources of instinct, when compelled to deviate from the 
ordinary course. It is singular that though the construction 



84 ARCHITECTURE OF BEES. 

of the cell of the honey comb, so geometrically just, and so 
well adapted to produce the greatest capacity at the least 
possible expense of superficial extent, or of materials, has 
been long an object of general admiration, one naturalist, and 
he of no mean celebrity, affects to disdain partaking of 
this almost universal feeling. Buffon, as if to evince his su- 
periority to what he considers the vulgar enthusiasm excited 
by the architecture of the bees, declares that " these bee- 
cells — these hexagons so much applauded and admired, seem 
only to furnish us with anew argument against enthusiasm 
and admiration, This figure correctly regular and geomet- 
rical as it appears to us, and as it actually is in theory, is, in 
this instance, but the effect of a mechanical result, which is 
often found in nature, and may be observed even in the most 
inanimate productions. Crystals, and several kind of stones, 
and some kind of salts, assume constantly this in their con- 
formation. Let a vessel be filled with peas, or rather with 
some seeds of cylindrical shape, and let it be closely shut af- 
ter having put in a sufficient quantity of water to fill up all 
the intervals between the seeds ; let this water be boiled, and 
all the cylindrical seeds will become columns of six sides. 
The cause, it is evident, is purely mechanical. Every cylin- 
der-shaped seed tends by its swelling to occupy the greatest 
possible space in a given space, they become, therefore, nec- 
essarily hexagons by reciprocal compression. In like manner 
every bee seeks to occwpy the greatest possible room in a 
given space ; it is therefore, necessary here also, since the 
body of the bee is cylindrical, by reason of the same recipro- 
cal compression." To this reasoning it may be answered, 
that there is no analogy between the cases. A hive without 
comb, as Lombard argues, is not above one-fourth filled with 
bees, and there is no cover, as in the case of the vessel to 
keep the mass together. To make the cases perfectly simi- 
lar, and fit subjects of comparison, the vessel with water 



ARCHITECTURE OF BEES. 85 

ought to be filled to the extent of one-fourth, and in that case 
the cylindrical seed will not be converted into hexagons. Be- 
sides the cells at the extremeties of the combs, though not so 
deep as those at the center or top, are as exactly hexagonal 
in their forms. Now, if hexagons are formed by the recip- 
rocal compression of the bodies of the bees against each other, 
how does it happen that the cells at the extremeties, which 
are not attached to the sides or bottom of the hive, and where 
consequently th^re can be no reciprocal compression, should 
yet be as perfect hexagons as the rest. And, not to dwell on 
other proofs, adduced by Lombard and other writers, of the 
utter insignificancy of this naturalist's theory, the cells have 
not all the same figure, the same dimensions, depth and di- 
ameter, win h they would necessarily have, if they had 
been produced merely by reciprocal compression. No ; the 
work of the bee demonstrates intelligence ; or, if we please, 
an in stinct superior to that of most animals ; and what is 
this instinct but the teachings of the Almighty ? — a manifes- 
tation even in the organization of a creature so unimportant as 
a tiny fly, of his eternal wisdom, which can render an insect 
of the earth an object of wonder to man himself, with all his 
boasted endowments, and which, while it guides the planets 
in their course. and sustains and upholds innumerable myriads 
of rational and immortal beings, directs the minutest alimal- 
cule to do those things that are necessary to the preservation 
and comfort of its existence. 

The following beautiful lines by Professor Smyth, are ex- 
tremely applicable to this part of a bee's labor : 

" Thou cheerful Bee ! ccme, freely come, 

And travel round my woodbine bower ; 
Delight me with thy wandering hum, 

And rouse me from thy musing hour, 
Oh ! try no more those tedious fields, 

Come taste the sweets my garden yields ; 
The treasures of each blooming vine, 

The bud, the blossom, all are thine* 

H 



THE BKOOD OF THE HONEY BEE. 



CHAPTER V- 

The Brood of the Honey Bee, 

Of the Brood. In forty-six hours after the impregnation, 
the queen-bee, as already noticed, begins to lay eggs of work- 
ers, and continues to do so, usually without interruption, 
throughout the season, at the rate of one and two thousand 
eggs per day. This great laying, of course, takes place in 
the months of May, June, and July. If the bees are kept in 
a warm place through the winter, and a strong colony, they 
will commence breeding much earlier. In warm latitudes, 
bees breed rapidly the year round. Bees can be induced to 
commence breeding much sooner, if properly attended to by 
their keepers. (See chapter on Wintering and Early Breed- 
ing, Feeding, &c*) When cold weather intervenes, the 
queen's operations are suspended in a measure, and the hatch- 
ing of the eggs already laid very much retarded. The fruit- 
fulness of the mother bee is indeed astonishing. 

It does not often happen that the Queen has a sufficiency 
©f room, so that she can go and deposit several thousand 
eggs at a time. If it is a young swarm, she cannot deposit 
eggs until the working bees get the comb built. As soon, 
however, as there is room to deposit eggs, she will readily do 
so, providing she is a fertile Queen, and the honey-gatherers 
do not get the start of her, and deposit honey and bee bread 
in the cells- It is the case many times, in the height of the 
honey season, that the bees gather the honey so fast that the 
Queen doe's not get a chance to deposit many eggs under sev- 
eral days after taking possession of a new hive. But, when 
bad weather comes on, so that the bees cannot go to the 



THE BROOD OF THE HONEY BEE. 87 

fields for hDney, then they turn their whole force to building 
comb. At such times the Queen gets a chance to deposit 
her ?ggs in large numbers. In the height of the honey sea- 
son the bees build much of their comb in the night. Be it 
remembered that the old. Queen, of the parent hive, lays all 
the eggs that produce the first, second and, sometimes, third 
swarms ; and when a new swarm is thrown off, the old Queen 
is invariably the one to accompany it, and consequently lays 
all the eggs that hatch for nearly fifty days, in that hive, 
whether they throw off a swarm or not. If there is a swarm 
to issue from this second swarm, this same old queen is the 
one to emigrate with it, thus making two emigrations in one 
year. 

It has been compute J by the celebrated Naturalist, Schirach, 
that the number produced in a hive by one Queen, during 
the laying season, amount to one hundred thousand (100,000). 
This statement should convince any one, after seeing the 
Queen (through a glass hive) deposit five or six eggs per min- 
ute, as many observers have done. In the beginning of the 
season, or rather year, it is a good stock hive which possesses 
a population of 20,000 or 30,000, yet that some hives shall in 
June throw off swarms amounting to 40,000 or 50,000, in 
many cases the last, or second swarm, amounts to 10,000 or 
12,000, and still at the end of harvest, this original stock-hive 
shall exhibit a population of 20,000 or 30,000 ; add to all 
this that in many instances a first swarm throws off one or 
two colonies, and add these together and it would overrun 
a hundred thousand. Before depositing her eggs, the 
Queen carefully examines the cell, inserting her head in- 
to it and keeping it there for a second or two, and as already 
stated, after having deposited a few tggs on one side of the 
comb, proceeds to the other side, and with a view probably 
of economizing heat, supplies the corresponding cells upon 
that side. Her impatience or necessity to commence laying 



88 THE BROOD OF THE HONEY BEE. 

is such, that in a newly established hive, eggs will be found 
before there is three inches squire of comb (provided she 
gets ahead of the honey-gatherers,) constructed, and even 
before the cells have attained their full depth. And in a 
well-peopled hive, even during winter, and while the tempera- 
ture is chilled by the frost and snows of January, and the 
bleak winds of the following month, the indefatigable mother 
bee is found busied in depositing eggs. We have said that 
the Queen begins laying eggs forty six hours after impregna- 
tion. This does not hold true invariably ; a sudden change 
of temperature may prolong the interval to a very consider- 
able extent. Huber had a Queen impregnated in October ; 
which, on account of the inclemency of the season, did not 
commence laying until the following Spring. The eggs, 
when layeel, remained fixed on the superior angle of the cell, 
to which they are attached by a viscous matter covering 
them for three days ; on the fourth, the shell or thin envel- 
oping membrane bursts, and a small lively worm is deposited 
at the bottom of the cell. The nurse bees immediately en'er 
upon their voea'ion, and administer a copious supply of liquid 
food, of which honey and farina, and probably water, are the 
principal ingredients. As the larva increases in growth, the 
attention of the bees in nourishing it is augmented, and indeed 
unremitting ; for, at whatever time we inspect a brood comb' 
we shall observe hundreds of nurses with their bodies inserted 
in the cells, supplying the wants of the infant progeny. Al- 
though in the vermicular state, and consequently without 
feet, the larva are capable of moving in a special direction. 
During the first three days their motion is so slow that it is 
scarcely perceptible, but it afterwards becomes more evident, 
and they have been observed to perform two complete revo- 
lutions in less thau two hours. The slightest movement of 
the bees approaching to administer to their wants, is sufficient 
to attract them to their food, which they devour most vora- 



THE BROOD OF THE HONEY BEE. 89 

eiously, and it is unsparingly administered to them. At first 
the liquid is nearly insipid, but acquires gradually a percep- 
tible flavor of honey, and becomes more saccharine and trans- 
parent in proportion as the larva advances in growth. " It 
is indescribable," says Februrier, " the care which the work- 
ers lavish upon these little nurslings, towards whom they 
seem to cherish the tenderest attachment. A comb filled 
with brood and placed in an empty hive, seldom fails to re- 
tain them there to the utter disregard of the loss of their 
stores. The tenderest mother could not watch over her chil- 
dren with more affection, nor supply them with nourish- 
ment more impartially, or in greater abundance. At the 
same time, it is done without waste, for the quantity is so 
proportioned to the demand, that none of it remains in the 
cells when the larva undergoes its transformation to the 
nymph state." 

At the moment of being hatched the insect presents the 
appearance of a straight worm con posed of several ventral 
wings. It quickly grows so as to touch the sides of the cell, 
when it contracts its body and coils itself into a semicircular 
figure, and continues enlarging its dimensions until the ex- 
tremes meet, and form a complete ring. In this state it con- 
tinues receiving food from the nurses for five days, w T hen it 
ceases to eat ; its supplies are of course cut off, and the bees 
proceed to seal up the cell with a waxen cover of a brownish 
color, and slightly convex. Thus left to itself the larva be- 
gins spinning around its body, after the manner of the silk- 
worm, a fine silken film or cocoon, which completely envel- 
opes it. " The silken threads employed in forming this cov- 
ering," Kirby and Spence tell us, " proceeds from the middle 
part of the under lip, and is in fact, composed of two threads 
gummed together, as they issue from the two adjoining ori- 
fices of the spinner." In the formation of its cocoon, the 
larva occupies thirty-six hours, and in three davs after it is 
*h 



90 THE BROOD OF THE HONEY BEE. 

metamorphosed into a nymph or pupa, terms applied to the 
mummy-like state to which the larva is subjected, previous 
to its becoming a perfect insect or image, as it is termed. Du- 
ring this state of concealment, various changes happen to the 
enclosed insect. The first <hange in its situation is its ceas- 
ing to continue in that coiled position in which it originally 
lay at the bottom of the cell, and extending itself along its 
whole length, with its head in the direction of the mouth of 
the cell. The head begins to appear from the inert look- 
ing mass, having a small protuberance, probably the rudi- 
ment of the proboscis ; the first indications of the feet also 
appear, though of diminutive size. After the head is formed 
and theproboscis prolonged, all the other parts display them- 
selves successively; and the worm is changed into the perfect 
insect, except that its outer covering is yet white and soft, 
and has not that dark scaly texture which, as a proper coat 
of defence, it afterwards acquires. By this transformation 
the larva becomes divested of its crccon, which is attached 
so closely to the internal surface of the cell, that it appears 
to form part of its substance, and acids considerably to its 
thickness ; these linings are sometimes formed to the number 
of seven or eight, and many times where the combs are old, 
to four timbes that number ; adhering to the sides of the 
cells and having an injurious effect as they do, on the cell's 
capacity, and exciting, by their strong smell, the attack of 
moths and other enemies. The number of linirgs found ad- 
hering to a cell and which may be disjoined by soaking the 
comb in water, indicates the number of bees of which it has 
been the birth-place. The late Dr. Barclay, of Edingburgh, 
imagined he had discovered that the partitions of the bee- 
cells are doiible, and regarded this circumstance as an addi- 
tional instance of the wonderful architectural powers of bees. 
It is not improbable that what he considers to be separate 
lamina? of wax are but the silken linings of the cells. The 



THE BItOOD OF THE HOSEY BEE. 91 

bee thus stripped of its silken covering and having all its 
parts unfolded by degrees, and changed, through a succes- 
sion of colors, from a dull white to a black, thus arriving at 
the state of a perfect insect, which will be from the 20th to 
the 21st day, reckoning from the minute the egg is layed, if it 
is a worker, She then commences eagerly the operation of 
cutting through the covering of her cell with her mandables, 
and in half an hour succeeds in escaping from her prison. 
On quitting her cradle she appears for a few moments drowsy 
and listless, but soon assumes the agility natural to the race? 
and on the same day on which she has emerged from her cell, 
does she many times set out with her seniors to engage in the 
labors of the field. Some of the ancient bee-keepers enlarge 
on the attention paid by the seniors to the young worker, on 
emerging from her cell ; describing them as licking her body, 
supplying her with food, and seeming to instruct her in what 
is necessary to render her a useful member of the community. 
These descriptions have been repeated by succeeding wri- 
ters on the subject, and the existence of these amiable trails 
in the kind nurses of the young, is taken for granted as an 
indubitable fact in their natural history. We have reason, in 
consequence of repeated observations, to disbelieve the al- 
leged fact, and must, in accordance with the truth, withhold 
from our favorites the unmerited eulogizing they have re- 
ceived on this head. They are in fact, in this particular, 
harsh and unfeeling in the extreme. In hundreds of instan- 
ces have we seen and pitied the infant insects, when, after 
having long struggled to get out of its cradle, it has at last 
succeeded so far as to extrude the head, and when laboring 
with the most eager impatience, and on the very point of ex- 
tricating the shoulders also, which would at once secure its 
exit, a dozen or two of workers in following their avocations, 
trample without ceremony over the struggling creature, who 
is then forced for the safety ot its head to pop quickly dow 



92 THE HROOD OF THE HONEY BEE. 

into its cell again, and wait, till ihe unfeeling crowd pass on, 
before it can renew its efforts to escape. Again and again 
are the same impatient exertions repeated by the same indi- 
viduals with similar mortifying interruptions, before it suc- 
ceeds in obtaining is freedom. Not the slightest attention 
or sympathy is observable on the part of the worker? in 
these circumstances ; nor did we ever in a single instance, 
witness the kind parental cares which seem to owe their ex- 
istence to the fancy of the writers alluded to. During the 
larva stage, as we have shown, the solicitude of the workers 
about the well fare and nourishment, of their infant charge, is 
extreme ; but from the moment they have sealed up their 
cell, and while the larva is undergoing it's transformation, 
they seem to cease from any thing like individual attention, 
and though when a brood comb is meddled with their utmost- 
ire is kindled against the invaders, as far as concerns the re- 
ception of the newly hatched insect, and its introduction to 
the duties and avocations of the bee-community, they appear 
altogether selfish and indifferent. There is another case where 
this indifference appears very striking : a sudden change of 
atmosphere about the end of Autumn, from a mild tempera- 
ture to frost, has such an immediate effect on the brood, that 
it is not uncommon for a young bee which has so far suc- 
ceeded in breaking its prison as to extricate its head, and 
nearly its shoulders, yet perishing from cold in this situation, 
without the slightest effort on the part of the workers to save 
the life of a companion whose rearing has already caused them 
so much labor. Immediately after the young bee has issued 
From the cell, the workers hasten to clean it out, clear away 
the ragged remains of the cover, fortify it anew with the usu- 
al strong bordering of wax, and thus prepare it for the recep- 
tion of another egg, or of honey or farina. 

We have hitherto confined our observations to the progress 
of a worker from the egg to the state of the perfect insect. 



THE BROOD OF THE HONEY DEE. 93 

The same process takes place in case of the male and of the 
Queen, though with some differ* nee as to, the time occupied 
in the transformation ; like those of common bees, the eggs of 
the male are hatched in three days, the larva state contin- 
ues six and a half days, and after having formed their cocoon 
and been metamorphosed into nymps, they attain to the stale 
of perfect, insects on the 24th day from the laying of the eggs. 
We may briefly notice, here, the statemeat of Huber respect- 
ing the order in which the different kinds of eggs are arranged 
in the ovarium of the Queen, and the law which regulates 
her laying. He says, " Nature does not allow the Quern 
the choice of the egg she is to lay ;" that " it is ordained she 
shall, at certain times of the year, produce those of males' 
and, at another time, ihe eggs of workers ; an order which 
cannot be inverted ;" that "the eggs are not indiscriminately 
mixed in the ovaries of the Queen, but an anged so that at a 
particular season, she can only lay a particular kind;" that 
*i she can lay no male eggs until those of the workers, occu- 
pying the first place in the oviducts, are discharged." 

We think that Huber's statement upon this point will not 
hold true in all respects, and we think it made in terms too 
unqualified, and that there are palpable and frequent excep- 
tions. Perhaps he did not, in his series of experiments, put 
a young fertile Queen into a hive where there were no 
drone cells, but all worker cells, as some experimenters 
have done, and the progeny of the Queens under these cir- 
cumstances were all worker bees, with the exception of what 
were converted into Queens; and, on the other hand, put a 
colony of bees into a hive containing drone comb only, and 
in this case her progeny were all drones, unless the bees tore 
out a portion of it, and reconstructed worker comb. The in- 
stinct of the bee is such that they will invariably do this, 
when compelled to do so, and that the sex of the bee is de- 
termined by the place where the egg is deposited. The 



94 THE BROOD OF TI1E HONEY BEE : 

Queen has no control over the eggs in her ovarium, farther 
than she can lay eggs in cells, or extrude them upon the 
edges of the comb, as she sometimes does, when there are no 
cells for the reception of her eggs, and thus to be devoured 
by the greedy workers. If the Queen is compelled to lay in 
drone cells, the number of effgs will be limited to wh it they 
would be in worker cells, knowing, as she does, that too 
many drones would be the destruction of the whole colony in 
a short time, 

Now, does not this fact seem to imply that there is no such 
arbitrary arrangement of the several kinds of eggs, as Huber 
imagines? And, if it would not be stretching the inference 
too far to say that the Queen has the power of laying those 
of males or of workers, as the circumstances may require, 
does it not imply that the statement of Huber may admit of 
very important and frequent objections ? 

" About the twentieth day," says Huber, u from the com- 
mencement of laying of male eggs, the bees begin to lay the 
foundations of royal cells, and the Queen having resumed 
laying female eggs, deposits them, at intervals of one or two 
days, in these cells, from which are hatched, in due time, 
other Queens. This regular process is, however, sometimes 
interrupted. If the Queen be not a fertile one, and the colo- 
ny, is, in consequence, weak in population, if the hive or 
domicil itself be large in proportion to the number of its in- 
habitants, or, if the temperature of the season has been 
such as to interfere with the copious collection of honey and fa- 
rina ; in those circumstances no male eggs will be layed, no 
royal cells founded, and no swarms will issue. But in favorable 
circumstances the laying of royal eggs takes place regularly du- 
ring the laying of those of males, and swarming is the conse- 
quence. 

The royal cell is an inch in depth, and it has been considered 
difficult to comprehend how the body of the Qneen can reach 



THE BROOD OF THE HONEY BEE. 95 

the bottom, so as to attach the eggs to it; but in fact, the Queen 
lays when the cell is newly formed, and not deeper than that of 
a common bee, and it is not until after the precious deposit has 
been made, that the workers lengthen it to the full size. The 
egg destined to produce a Queen, like that which is lodged in a 
drone cell, and that of a worker, is three days old before it is 
hatched ; as soon as this takes place the royal Lrva becomes an 
object of devoted attention to the bees, who watch over and feed 
it with unremitting care. " It is difficult," says M. Februrier, 
" to form an idea of the anxious care and attention bestowed by 
the bees on the royal larva. The comparison of the affection of 
a mother for an only child, can alone form anything like a con- 
ception of it. They seem to feel that their own fate is involved 
in that of their young sovereigu ; they feed her with a j p Uy 
different from that which is destined for the workers and males ; 
it is more pungent and moderately acid, and they supply it in 
such profusion that she is unable to consume it all, for often, 
after her transformation, some remains of it are found at the 
bottom of the cell." 

At the end of the fifth day of the larva state, the royal cell is 
closed, and the inhabitant begins spinning her cocoon. It is 
worthy of remark, that this covering is left incomplete, like 
those of the workers and males, which enclose the whole body 
This fact beautifully demonstrates the admirable art with which 
the Author of Nature has connected the . various characteristics 
of this interesting tribe of his creatures. In spinning the cocoon 
the Queen spends only 24 hours ; she remais s in a death-like 
torpidity between two and three days. She is then metamor- 
phosed into a nymph, and after remaining in that state four days 
and a half, she comes forth a perfect Queen on the sixteenth 
day. 

The royal insect is not permitted to leave the cell and as 
generally happens, to lead off a new swarm, unless the weather 
should be very unfavorable; were she to obtain her liberty, while 



96 THE BROOD OF THE HONEY BEE. 

at the same time emigration was prevented by the state of the 
external atmosphere, or other circumstances, there would be a 
plurality of Queens in the hive and mortal strife would ensue. 
The young Queen, therefore, is detained a captive, and the work- 
ers piercing a hole in the cover of the cell, insert their probos- 
cis and supply her with food during her captivity. The number 
of Queens hatched in a hive in one season, depends principally 
upon the size of the colony and the number of swarms they 
throw off; the more times they swarm, the more Queens they 
rear. In warm climates bees can throw off a colony every three 
or four weeks the year round, but in a northern climate, like 
Vermont, they never should swarm more than once, or twice at 
most ; if more than that, it will ruin both the parent and young 
swarm, nine times out of ten. 

" As it is very important,'' says Euber, " in many experiments 
to know the exact time that the three species of bees exist, before 
assuming their ultimate form, I shall here subjoin my own ob- 
servations on the point ; 

The worm or larva, passes three days in the egg, and five in 
the vermicular state, then the bees close up the cell with a wax 
covering ; it now begins spinning its cocoon, in which operation 
36 hours are consumed ; in three days after this it changes to a 
nymph or pupa, and passes six days in this form, and on the 
twentieth clay of its existence, it comes forth a perfect winged 
insect, but sometimes as late as the twenty-first day. The royal 
worm also passes three days in the egg, and is five a worm or 
grub, when the workers close its cell, and it immediately com- 
mences spinning its cocoon, which occupies 24 hours. The tenth 
and eleventh days it remains in complete repose, and even much 
of the twelfth day ; then the transformation to a nymph takes 
place, in which four or five days are passed, aud on the sixthteenth 
day the perfect state of the Queen is attained. The male or 
drone passes three days in the egg, six and a half as a worm or 
grub, and metamorphoses into a perfect winged insect on the 



HONEY PASTURAGE. 97 

the twenty-fourth day from the laying of the egg. The larva 
of bees are not condemned to remain absolutely motionless in 
their cells, for they can move in a spiral direction. During the 
first three days this motion is so slow as scarcely to be percep- 
tible, but it afterwards becomes more evident. I have often ob- 
served them perform two complete revolutions in an hour and 
three quarters. When the period of transformation arrives, 
they are only two lines from the orifice of the cell. As their po- 
sition is constantly the same, bent in an area, the larva in the cells 
of the workers and drones are perpendicular, or nearly so, to 
the horizon, while those in the royal cells lie horizontal. 

Whenever mature bees are discovered in the cells for the space 
of fifteen or twenty minutes, it is a certain indication that they 
are taking their repose, as they never enter their cells head-fore- 
most, unless depositing honey, or taking repose ; when they hatch 
they emerge from the cell head foremost. The drones take re- 
pose upon the outer portion of the comb ; the Queen sometimes 
takes her repose by crawling into a drone cell ; the workers sel- 
dom take repose when there is honey to gather. 



CHAPTR VI. 

Honey Pasturage. 



On the. different substances found in a Bee Hive. Honey, 
Wax, Farina or Bee Bread, Propolis or Bee Glue. Honey 
is well known to be a vegetable product, secreted in the necta- 
ries at the base of the ccrollae of the different species of flow- 
ers. It has been supposed by some writers to be the elemental 
principles of all vegetables, without exception, and indispensa- 
I 



98 HONEY PASTURAGE. 

ble to their existence; although there is perhaps> no sufficient ev- 
idence of the saccharine matter of plants being in all casi-scon- 
vertablc into honey. As one of its secondary uses, it seems des- 
tined by nature for the food of bees, and those industrious col- 
lectors fail not to appropriate the rich liquid. Sweeping the 
hollow of the honey-cup with their little proboscis, the little 
skillfull chemists eagerly imbibe the saccharine juice as it ex- 
udes from the nectariura, receive it into the honey-bag, which 
forms their anterior stomach, and hurrying homewards with their 
precious load, disgorge it into a cell prepared for its reception. 
The quantity which each bee deposits at one time is very small, 
the honey-bag when full, not exceeding the size of a small pea; 
but the aggregate quantity collected by the whole colony, is 
prodigious. Much has been said both in ancient and modern 
times, as to the amount of honey a colony of bees are capable of 
making 

1st. Much depends on the size of the colony. 
2d. Whether the bees are allowed to swarm or not. 
3d. The kind of pasturage or flowers adjacent to the Apiary. 
4th. Whether it is a good season for Bees ; that is, whether 
the weather is favorable to the honey flowers, as they may all be 
in full bloom and yet the bees not be able to collect any honey; 
a cool wet season like 1857, in the more northern portions of 
the New England States, was very unfavorable for the collec- 
tion of honey, as well as to check the breeding and swarming of 
the bees. But a warm moist season is most favorable to the 
honey and honey harvest, Then much depends upon the skill 
and experience of the bee-master, as well as the kind of hive 
that may be used, whether the honey yield is great or less. 

After taking all these things into consideration, and also, 
whether it is a cold or warm climate, the bee-keeper will read- 
ily discover the reason why his bees will not make honey abun- 
dantly at all times and places. If the apiarian has the skill 
and knowledge in the business that he should have, in order to 



IIONEY TASTURAGE. 99 

be successful, he will readily perceive where he can greatly as- 
sist his bees in storing up honey, as well as in brooding, to 
have them throw off" large early swarms, and to have perfect 
control of them in all the various departments of their labors, 
by following the directions laid down in this work. We can 
give no particular amount of honey a swarm of bees should 
.make, as much depends upon circumstances. 

I will here state the advantages that may be given to the bees 
by the use of my Patent Hive. First, you start with a strong 
healthy colony in the Spring, keep them in a non-swarming hive, 
(like my last improvement,) furnish them all the comb that they 
need to store their honey in, and save them the trouble of mak- 
ing it, as it costs them twenty and many times twenty-Jive 
pounds of honey, to build a pound of comb ; prevents there 
being any niata bees or drones, to eat up the honey ; (as they 
never make a drop, but consume a large amount of the best 
honey in the hive,) in preventing their swarming, (see chapter 
on swarming.) and in using my hive, if it is a good 
honey season for bees, they will make from two to three 
hundred pounds of honey in one season, with proper care and 
management ; thus making your bees pay a much larger per 
cent, than anything else that is kept on a farm, and with much 
less care and attention. This amount of honey may seem in- 
credible to many, but nevertheless it is true, lor it has been 
done where bees had all their comb to build, as well as to be 
troubled with the drones, which ate up a large portion of it ; un- 
der all these disadvantages they have been known to store up- 
wards of 290 pounds, notwithstanding the bees had the privilege 
of swarming. It is a certain fact that a good swarm of bees 
will store up several pounds of honey in one day. I have had 
them store up 10 or 12 pounds per day, in the heighth of the 
honey season, and I have statistics showing that they have 
stored as high as 18 pounds in one single day. I had one swarm 
make 125 pounds in eleven days, and there was three days of 



100 HONEY PASTURAGE. 

bad weather in the time ; it was a young swarm which came 
out on the 14 day of July, 1857 ; I gave them no particular 
care or attention during the time. With my PateLt Bee Hive 
Scale, it is easy to ascertain just how fast the bees are making 
honey at any time, in less than two minutes,and not molest the 
bees in the least. (See chapter on Hives and management, for 
particulars of the scale.) We have in a fine summer day, re- 
peatedly counted the bees of a hive as they returned from the 
fields ladened with sweets, and found the number to be between 
sixty ahd seventy in a minute. When the cells are full and the 
watery part evaporated, then the bees seal them over for future 
use j it is this evaporation or sweat, that bee-keepers sometimes 
discover running out of the hives in the height of the honey 
season. Should they seal the cells over as soon as the honey is 
put into them, it would, many times, sour and spoil. There is 
more honey consumed in the months of March and April, when 
breeding goes on rapidly, than during the four preceding months; 
at the same time many cells are left open and half filled for 
daily consumption. It has been a subject of discussion among 
naturalist?, whether the honey after being extracted from the 
Sowers, undergoes any change in the stomach of the insect, be- 
fore being deposited in the cell. Febnvrier is of the opinion 
that it is subjected to the digestive process. The celebrated 
John Hunter thought it remained pure, and in no respect what- 
ever altered, however long it had been retained in the stoimch 
of the bee : and he is followed in his conclusions by his coun- 
tryman, Bonner. Kirby and Spence, entomologists of no mean 
fame, have adopted the oposite opinion, but it does not appear 
that they had been led to this conclusion by the result of any 
experiments instituted for the purpose of ascertaining about the 
matter correctly. Keaumur, however, tells us, that from his ex- 
periments, he was satisfied that a process of elaboration did 
take place in the food with which he had supplied his bees, and 
that the sugar with which he fed them had precisely the taste 



HONEY PASTURAGE. 101 

and flavor of honey. But our experience, if we may venture 
to differ in the matter, from men so deservedly celebrated for 
attainments in natural science, leads us, with IIu> ter and Bon- 
ner, to a different conclusion. We have repeatedly tasted the 
syrup of sugar, which we had seen the bees take from the 
f. eding trough and deposit in the cells, and could never discover 
the slightest difference in any respect, at least so far as taste and 
smell were concerned. Perhaps the liquid was clearer, and we 
sometimes imagined it was ; if so, this constituted the only dif- 
ference. The secretion of honey depends greatly on the state of 
the atmosphere. Daring the prevalence of dry easterly winds, the 
fields present to the bees nothing but barreness ; their out-door 
labors are suspended, and but for the already hoarded stores, 
the brood would be in iminent danger of starvation:. But when 
the weather is moist and sultry, and the air charged with elec- 
tricity, the circulation of this vegetab'e fluid is considerably ac- 
celerated, and the bees know wt-11 how to avail themselves of so 
favorable a juncture for collecting their ireasure. Huber re- 
marks th t the collection is never more abundant, nor their op- 
erations in wax more active than when the wind was from the 
south, the air moist and warm, and a storm approaching ; heat 
too long protracted, however, and its concomitant drought, chilly 
rains and a north wind, entirely suspend the elaboration of 
honey in vegetables, and consequently the operation of bees. 

The quality of the saccharine fluid is influenced bv various 
causes Something depends on the particular period of the sea- 
son that it is collected. In Scotland, Germany and England, 
the best honey. is gathered in the months of June and July; this 
rule will apply in the United Stages, especially in the northern 
portion of them, when the white clover, \Trifolium repens,) 
is in bloom ; and what is stored from this alone, generally speak- 
ing, is of as much value as all other honey-producing plants put 
together, up to the month of July ; after that time, buckwheat 
is one of the p] ineipal honey-producing vegetables. The quality 



102 HONEY PASTURAGE. 

of the honey is of course, much influenced by the nature of the 
plant most frequented by the bees. The famed honey of Hymet- 
tus, derives its excellence it is said, from the wild Thyme grow- 
ing so luxuriantly on the celebrated mountain from which it de- 
rives its name. There is a species of white Dutch clover, that 
flourishes in many parts of the country, being lately introduced 
among us by the Patent Office department at Washington, 
that affords large supplies of the best quality of honey ; in some 
parts of Germany and Scotland it has been cultivated success- 
fully for many years, not only for bee-culture and pasturage, 
but for eattle also. 

Instances of honey of a deleterious nature being sometimes 
met with, we must not pass over wholly the serious and some- 
times fatal effects produced upon some persons, by eating poi- 
sonous honey, or drinking mead. Says Messrs. Kirby and 
Spence, " we once knew a lady upon whom these acted like 
poison, and have heard of instances in which death was the con- 
sequence," Sometimes when bees extract honey from poisonous 
plants, such results have not been confined to individuals of par- 
ticular habit, or constitution. A remarkable proof of this is 
given by Dr. Barton, in the fifth volume of the American Phyl- 
©sophical Transactions. In the au'umn of the year 1790, an 
extensive mortality was produced among those who had partaken 
of the honey collected in the neighborhood of Philadelphia. 
The attention of the American Government was excited by the 
general distress, and a minute inquiry into the cause of the mor- 
tality ensued, and it was satisfactorily ascertained that the honey 
had been extracted from the flowers of Kalmia Catifolia, 
Though the honey mentioned in Xonophan's well known account 
of the effect of a particular kind of honey eaten by the Grecian 
soldiers, during the celebrated retreat after the death of the 
younger Cyrus, did not operate fatally, it gave those of the sol- 
diers who ate it in small quantities the appearance of being in- 
toxicated, and such as partook of it freely, as being mad, or 



HONEY PASTURAGE* 103 

about to die ; hundred.? laying- on the ground as if after a de- 
feat. A specimen of this honey, which still retains its delete- 
rious properties, was sent to the Zoological Society in 1884, for 
their inspection and analization. 

We have seen it remarked in bee publications, that the finest 
honey is got from the young swarms 5 this fact is so, generally 
speaking, but not, as we might naturally be led to infer from 
the assertion, because it is the produce of yonng bees, or of 
fresh swarms; but because bees swarm only at the height of the 
honey season when the flowers are in their richest fragrance, and 
because the combs are then new, and have not as yet served as 
receptacles for ihe brood. The above remarks apply to the qual- 
ity of the honey in the state in which it is secreted in the flow- 
ers, its after treatment does not improve it. The heat and va- 
por of the hive are injurious to it ; in very severe seasons it is 
sometimes candied, and in the honey harvest, when it is being 
separated from the wax, its purity may easily be injured by im- 
perfect management. 

As an article of nourishment to many, honey has been used 
from time immemorial, whether used separately or blended 
with other aliments, It was held out to the children of Israel 
as one of the valuable products of the promised land, and to this 
day it is highly esteemed in Eastern countries. imong the 
Greeks and Romans it was highly relished • they compounded 
it with other nourishing substances, and even mixed it with their 
wines. We also learn in the Bible, Book of Judges, in Sam- 
son's exploits, of his finding honey in the carcass of a lion. In 
fact, honey is one of the most delicious sweets we have knowl- 
edge of, either in ancient or modern times, and in the earlier pe- 
riods of the world, it was the only sweet extant. It l? nutritious 
in proportion to the saccharine matter it contains, and is regard- 
ed by medical men in many cases of illness, as a great tonic for 
the stomach. Its use as an article of food, it is true, has been 
greatly diminished by the use and culture of the sugar cane, 



104 HONEY PASTURAGE. 

(the Chinese sugar cane included,) bat it is still an article of 
considerable traffic, and large quantities of it are imported into 
this country from the East an I West India islands, and also 
fro n Mexico and South America ; yei notwithstanding the large 
amount of honey imported into our country, our native honey 
bears a good price, as its quality is much better than southern 
honey, owing principally to the climate and the bee pas urage 
which our nothern climates afford, The colder the clim ,te the 
better the honey, as a cold climate is always tetter fur the pro- 
duction of butter and cheese, so it is for honey. I have often 
heard it remarked by country bee-keepers, that whenever their 
cows produced well, that their bees invariably did ; but I th'.nk 
there are some exceptions to this rule. In 1857 the Eastern 
States were much more favorable to the production of butter 
and cheese than for honey, while in the Western States it was 
quite the reverse, although there is as much difference in the 
quality of the honey in the tw^o countries, as there is in the pork 
or butter, or any thing else that the farmers raise in the two 
plac s. The best honey produced in the Western States is made 
from wild flowers of the prairie, which is very similar to eastern 
buckwheat honey ; it has an aromatic smell, is pungent to taste, 
and is of a redish color ; although it looks very nice when made 
into boxes and fitted up for market, and usually fetches in the 
market of Chicago, from 25 to 40 cents per pound, yet in the 
Eastern States it would be called No. 2 honey, compared with 
the white clover honey, as that is perfectly transparent, and im- 
parts a most agreeable odor and taste. Honey forms, we are told, 
a very important ingredient in those fine ales which are brewed 
in Scotland, and certainly it must add not a little to the nutri- 
tive qualities of that wholsome beverage. 

Remarks on the uses of Honey. It is allowed by all med- 
ical men, that honey never should be eaten while new, and in an 
unsealed state, for honey, especially in an unsealed state, con- 
tains many times poisonous properties, and by giving it a little 



HONEY PASTURACE. 105 

age, as bees generally do, much of it evaporates ; but notwith- 
standing the sealing of the cells, it is not proper to eat freely of 
it unless it is as much as one year old. Many persons can tes- 
tify to the effects produced by eating too freely of new honey. 
New honey is the most healthy sweet that can be found, if it is 
first put into a kettle and brought to a boiling point, and then 
let cool ; skim off the wax and it is ready for the table. In 
southern climates new honey is much more poisonous than in 
colder climates ; in South America and Mexico, honey isalways 
brought to the boiling point before it is used by the natives. 
J The oleander, (Nejium Oleander,) yields a honey that 
proves fatal to thousands of imprudent flies, but our bees more 
wise and cautious, avoid it. Occasionally, perhaps, at particu- 
lar seasons, when flowers are less numerous than common, this 
instinct of the bees appears to fail them, or to be overpowered 
by their desire to collect a sufficient store of honey for their pur- 
poses, and they suffer for their want of self-denial. Sometimes 
whole swarms have been destroyed by merely alighting upon 
poisonous trees. This haj pened to one in the county of West- 
chester, New York State, which settled upon the branches of the 
Poison Ash, [RJms Vernix)', on the following morning the im- 
prudent insects were all found dead, and swelled to more than 
double their natural siz?. 

When the stomach of the bee is filled with nectar, it next by 
means of the fea'hered hairs with which its body is covered, pil- 
fers from the flowers the fertilizing dust of the anthers, the pol- 
len, which is equally necessary to the society with the honey 
and may be named the ambrosia of the hive, since from it the 
bee-bread is made. Sometimes the bees are so discolored with 
this powder as to look like a different species of insect, becoming 
white, yellow, or orange, according to the flower which it has 
been feeding upon. Reaumur was urged to visit the hives of a 
gentleman, who on this account, thought his bees were different 
from the common kind of bees. He suspected, and it proved so, 



106 HONEY PASTURAGE. 

that the circumstance just mensioned, occasioned the mistaken 
notion. When the body of the bee is covered with farina, with 
the brushes of its legs, especially the hind ones, it wipes it off; 
not as we do with our dusty clothes, to dissipate and disperse it 
in the air, but to collect every particle of it, and then to knead 
it and form it into two little masses, which she places, one in 
each of the baskets formed by hairs on her hind leg*. 

Aristotle says that, in each journey from the hive, bees at- 
tend only one species of flower ; Reaumur seems to think they 
fly indiscriminately from one to another ; but Mr. Dobbs, in 
the Philosophical Transactions, and Butler before him, as- 
sert that they have frequently followed a bee in collecting 
pollen, &c, and invariably observed that it continued collect- 
ing from the same kind of flowers with which it fii>t began, 
passing over every other species, however numerous, even 
though the flower it fir?t selected was scarcer than others. 
Their observations, he thinks are confirmed ; and the idea 
seems not unreasonaqle, by the uniform color of the pellets 
of pollen, and their different size. Beaumur himself tells us 
that the bees enter the hive, some with yellow pellets and 
some with red ones, and others again with whitish ones, and 
sometimes they are even green ; upon which he observes that 
this arisen from their being collected from particular flowers, 
the pollen of whose anthers are of those colors. It seems 
not impiobable that the reason why the bee visits the same 
species of plants during one excursion, may be this: her instinct 
teaches her that the grains of pollen which enter into the same 
mass, should be homogeneous, in order, perhaps, fur their more 
effectual cohesion , and thus Providence also secures two im 
portant ends : the impregnation of such flowers that require 
such aid, by the bees passing from one to another ; and the 
avoiding the production of hybrid plants, from the application 
of the pollen of one kind of plant to the stigma of another- 
When the anthers are not yet burst, the bee opens them with 



HONEY PASTURAGE. 107 

her mandibles, takes a parcel of pollen, which one of the first 
pair of legs receives and delivers to the middle pair, from 
which it passes to one of 1 he hind legs. If the contents of 
one of the little pellets be examined through a lens, it will be 
found that the grains have all retained their original shape. 
A botanic, practiced in the figure of the pollen ot the differ- 
ent species of common plants, might easily ascertain, by srach 
an examination, whether a bee had collected its ambrosia 
from one or more, and also from what species of flowers. 

In the months of April and May, as Reaumur tells us, the 
bees collect pollen from morning till evening ; but in the 
warm months, the great gathering of it is from the time of 
their first leaving the hive, which is as early, many times as 
four o'clock in the morning, to about ten o'clock A. M. About 
that hour, all that enter the hive may be seen with their pel- 
lets in their baskets ; but during the rest of the day 
there is but little farina collected. In a hive, however, 
in which a swarm has been recently established, it is brought 
in, generally, at all hours of the day. He supposes, in order 
for its being formed into pellets, that it requires some mois- 
ture, which the heat evaporates soon after it is deposited in 
the hive. When a bee hascompleted her lading, she returns 
to the hive to dispose of it. The honey is disgorged into the 
honey -pots, or cells, destined to receive it, and is discharged 
from the honey-bag by its alternate contraction and dilation. 
A cell will contain the contents of many honey -bags. When 
a bee comes to disgorge the honey, with its forelegs it breaks 
the thick cream that is always on the top,and the honey which 
it yields passes under it. This cream is honey of a thicker 
consistency than the rest, which rises to the top of the cells, 
like cream on milk ; it is not. level, but forms an oblique sur- 
face over the honey. The cells, as before stated, are near a 
horizontal position with the mouth of the cell slightly eleva- 
ted, so that the honey will not run out. Bees when they 



108 HONEY PASTURAGE. 

bring home the honey do not always disgorge It into the cell, 
but give it to such of the inmates as have been at work in 
the interior part of the hive. Some of the cells are rilled 
with honey for daily use. Bees generally seal up iheir cells 
as soon as the moisture or watery part evaporates ; should 
they do it before, it would sour in tie cells, and thus be 
spoiled ; when the cell is sealed it is craped over with a wax- 
en cover perfectly white. The pollen, or bte-bread, is em- 
ployed as circumstances dictate ; when the bee ladened with 
it arrives at the hive, she sometimes stops at the entrance and 
very leisurely detaching it by piece-meals, devours one or 
both the pellets on her legs, chewing them with her jaws and 
disgorging a small portion of honey, as this is the way they 
prepare the farina for the young brood. Sometimes she en- 
ters the hive and walks upon the combs, and, whether she 
walks or stands, still keeps beating her wings. By the noise 
thus produced, which seems a call to her fellow citizens, 
three or four go to her and placing themselves around her, be- 
gin to lighten her of her load. When more pollen is collect- 
ed than the bees have immediate occasion for, they store it 
in some of the empty cells. I lliiufc the assertion involved 
in much doubt, that one bee feeds another, unless it is a young 
bee not yet mature. The bees all pay that respect and hom- 
age to their Queen by offering her food almost constantly. 
The laden bee puts her two hmd legs into the cell, and the 
intermediate pair pushes off the pellets ; when this is done, 
she or another bee, if she is too much fatigued with her day's 
labor, enters the cell head first and remains there some time, 
engaged in diluting the pellets, kneading them and packing 
them close, and so they proceed till the cell is rilled. A 
large portion of the cells in some hives are rilled with this 
bread. The bees usually fill the cells with farina only one 
half or two-thirds full, then to keep it moist fill it up with 
*-oney ; in this way it can be kept a long time, and many 



HONEY PASTURAGE. 109 

times it accumulates so fast that the hive is frequently one- 
half or two-thirds full of this substance, especially if it be an 
old hive ; when this is the case the swarm will soon go to 
destruction, as the Queen has no place to deposit her eggs, on 
account »f the cells being occupied by an over-stock of bee- 
bread, and the longer it remains in the hive the worse it is, 
as the bees never remove it after once it has been deposited, 
only what little they need in the winter and early spring, be- 
fore they can obtain it from abroad, which they will do very 
early in the spring, in preference to using the stoc.v which 
they have on hand. It is very important that the Apiarian 
has a hive so constructed that he can remove the over surplus 
of bee-bread, or shift the combs when they become black as 
they usually do, after being in use two or three years and 
upwards. My hive is so constructed that the honey, bee- 
bread, bees or comb, can be equalized or divided, as the 
case may be, and which can be done at any time of year, 
as necessity might require. 

Bees in their honey excursions do not confine their labors 
to the spot immediately contiguous to their dwelling, but 
when led by the scent of honey, will go a mile from it, and, 
if honey cannot be obained nearer, they will even go three 
miles to obtain it ; there are many instances on record where 
bees have gone much farther than that, but the nearer the pas- 
turage, the more they will collect. 

These insects, especially when laden and returning to their 
nest, fly in a direct line, which saves both time and labor. 
How they are enabled to do this with such certainty as to 
make for their own abode without deviation, I must leave for 
others to explain. Connected with this circumstance, and 
the acuteness of their smell, is the following curious account 
given in the Philosophical Transactions for 1721, of the meth- 
od practiced in New England for discovering where wild bees 
live in the woods in order to get their honey. tf The bee 
J 



1 10 HONEY PASTURAGE. 

hunter c ets a plate containing ho> ey or sugar upon the ground 
in a clear day, and the bees son discover and attack it; hav- 
ing secured two or three that ruive filled themselves, the hun- 
ter lets one go, which, rising in the air, flies straight to the 
nest or tree ; he then strikes off at right angles with its course 
a few huiiditd 3 aids, snd lets a Kccrd bee fly, observes 
its course by his pod- et compass, and the point where the two 
lines intersect is where the nest is situated." 

The most improved mode of bee hunting is simply this : 
Take a small box with a slide cover in the top, with a glass 
inserted, that the hunter may the more readily observe their 
movements ; put a small quantity of honey in the box, (hon- 
ey in the comb is preferable,) then search for a bee or several 
if convenient ; as soon as they are confined in the box they 
will immediately fall to eating hoi ey. The bee-hunter should 
have in readiness a small piece of cha'k, from which he may 
scrape off a little and moisten it with spittle, and then by 
means of a straw, touch a bit of it to the back of the bee, 
and if more than one bee be marked, touch the second one 
twice and so on ; it usually takes a bee about two minutes to 
load himself from a box. After marking him, open the box 
carefully and give him a chance to go to his nest ; he vvill 
first make several revolutions before leaving, and when he 
does leave, his course will be straight to his abode. 

It would be well for the bee-hunter to select as high a point 
of land as possible, as it is rather hard for the eye to follow 
a bee when in a hollow, or among shrubbery. Many times 
it would be advisable for the hunter to place himself upon his 
back so that he can the more easily detect his course, when 
he takes the " bee-line," as the hunters call it ; when she re- 
turns she may fetch more with her, and a supply of honey 
should be kept in the box. The whole colony that this bee 
belongs to will come for the honey and by applying my Pat- 
ent Bee Catcher in the right time, the whole swarm may be 



HONEY PASTURAGE. HI 

secured. The particulars of this instrument, will be given in 
the chapter on hives. In regard to timeing bees when they 
are lined to the woods, it has never been successful by either 
ancient or modern bee hunters, as so much depends upon the 
locality and conditions of the tree ; when the tree has a bad 
entrance, which many of tbem have, it will take a bee many 
times, ten times as long to deposit the honey after they ar- 
rive at the tree as it does to make the excursion into the fields 
after it. The same thing will hold good in regard to most of 
the bee hives now in use ; it will take much longer for the 
bees to enter the hive and deposit the honey than it does to 
go into the fields after it. In my Patent Hive there is a 
remedy for all these inconveniences. (See chapter on Hives.) 
The bee may have several feet to traverse after first entering 
the tree, and perhaps through a narrow crowded channel, be- 
fore they can find a cell that is fitted for the deposit ; under 
these unfavorable circumstances, it is impossible tj ascertain 
the distance of the tree from the box, by the time the bee is 
gone. Old bee hunters generally allow that a bee will re- 
quire one and a half minutes to traverse a mile, and if load- 
ed two minutes, when there is no wind to interfere. But 
when a colony runs away they are usually twice or three 
times that length of time flying a mile. 

I would suggest to every young bee-keeper to spend a lit- 
tle time with some old experienced h nd, before undertaking 
it alone. It is a well known fact with bee-keepers as well 
as bee hunters, that the hcney bee as well as other species of 
insects, have a mode of conveying intelligence from one to 
another ; in fact it is a system of speech that is demonstra- 
ted in a variety of ways ; it is illustrated in the c ise of huut- 
ingthe bees of the forest ; if they had no system of speech 
among themselves, they never w T ould depart for the woods as 
they many times do, as in the case of swarming, nor would 
everything go on so systematically in the interior part of the 



112 HONEY PASTURAGE. 

Live ; deprive them of their peculiar language, and they 
would he as much disorganized and confounded as the build- 
ers of the Tower of Babel were at the time God confounded 
their familiar language. It is acknowledged by all distin" 
guished naturalists, that the different species of insects have 
a language peculiar to their species, and that they can just 
as readily understand each other as one man can understand 
another ; let a bee-keeper go to one of his hives and catch a 
bee and pinch him, and the cry of distress will be such as to 
canse many other bees to come to his rescue, and care must 
be taken on the pait of the experimenter or he may get badly 
stung ; when a single bee finds a quantity of honey she can 
communicate it to the whole colony in a few moments of time, 
especially if the inmates of the hive are all present. Show 
one single bee a quantity of honey, and in a few hours time 
the attention of the whole colony will be turned towards 
it. The most appropriate time of day to commence to line 
bees, especially if the hunter wishes to capture the whole 
colony, is about three o'clock in the afternoon, if the weather 
be fine, and at night when the bees are all in, the news will 
be communicated to the whole swarm, and early on the fol- 
lowing morning, if pleasant, the whole colony will be in hot 
pursuit for the honey that was discovered tne day before by 
one single bee, and by ten o'clock the whole colony can be 
captured if desired, by introducing my newly invented bee 
catcher to the entrance of the hive, as that will admit of 
bees entering a hive or box, but they cannot return after they 
have once entered if the machine is properly set. Many sci- 
entific Apiarians allege that bees will scent honey some dis- 
tance from the hive ; on a warm day this is true. "If a 
person wishes to call the bees to him rapidly,"' says an old 
bee-keeper, "burn a small bit of comb, and in a few moments 
there will be plenty of bees in the box." 

Over Stocking a Count? y. There has much been said of 



HONEY PASTURAGE. 113 

late on this paint, although it has never been done in any 
part of the world as yet ; according to the accounts from the 
din rent European Empires, Kingdoms and v tates, and ac- 
cording to our most celebrated naturalists and writers upon 
the honey bee, the Eastern Continent is far in advance of 
the Western, in the culture of the honey bee ; history 
gives no account of its being any more fertile than this Con- 
tinent but quite the reverse ; then why is it that honey is so- 
much more abundant there than here, whe.i our facilites for 
rearing bees are far in advance of those of Europe ? When 
every plant, shrub and tree that we cultivate is beneficial to 
the bees, as well as the plants and shrubs that flourish spon- 
taneously in our thousand fields, from one end of the country 
to the other ? and I think I may safely say nine-tenths of 
them are food for bees, either for honey, propolis or farina, or 
bee-bread. In many parts of Europe honey and bees- wax is 
one of the great staples for home consumption as well as ex- 
portation, as bee keeping is carried on in many parts of Ger- 
many, Scotland and Russia. We have numerous accounts 
of large Apiarys being almost in the same precinct or vil- 
lage, only a mile or two apart, numbering from 100 to 500 
colonies each. In many parts of Hungary and Russia they 
frequently number from 1000 to 6000, yielding upon an ave- 
rage five dollars per swarm of spare honey, and by the use 
of the most inferior hives we have knowledge of ; and should 
they give the colony a dose of brimstone as some very fre- 
quently do in the Fall, the yield and profit is much enhanced. 
We learn that it is not unfrequent for a traveler to find from 
4000 to 5000 hives congregated at some of the principal 
points of heaths where the honey flowers are found in great 
abundance. At that season of the year when everything is 
favorable, they will fill their hives in a very few days ; they 
may be scattered somewhat so that it would take twenty or 
thirty minutes for a person to ride to them all. There are 



114 HONEY DEWS. 

bee-shepherds who take charge of them for a compensation of 
one or two shillings each ; when they are received by the 
shepherds they are marked and numbered, so that the differ- 
ent owners may at the end of the honey season, be sure to re- 
ceive the hives belonging to them. With honey pasturage it 
is quite different from the pasturage we have for our cattle, 
sheep, &c • although the honey pasturage many times 
abounds in our stock pastures, especially as far as white clo- 
vers and golden rod are concerned. The honey harvest dif- 
fers as all bee-keepers are well aware in this respect ; at the 
proper season of the year appropriate for each plant, when 
the weather is warm and favorable, the honey producing 
plants yield their delicious nectar daily from one to three 
weeks, according to the kind of plants. Each plant has its 
own peculiar* time for the shedding of its sweets, the same as 
our sugar maple, so that when everything is favorable as re- 
gards weather, the bees never experience any difference in 
collecting honey from a flower that, perhaps, has been visited 
before by other bees, a. dozen times. 



CHAPTEE VII. 

Honey Dews. 



The term Honey Detvis applied to those sweet clammy drops 
that glitter on the foliage of many trees in hot weather. The 
name of this substance would seem to imply that it is a de- 
position from the atmosphere, and this has been the generally 
received opinion respecting it, particularly among the an- 



HOXEY DEWS. 115 

cients. It is an opinion still prevalent with many naturalists 
that it falls from the Heavens. Virgil speaks, " Acni mel- 
lis coeleslia dona. y - The Iiev. Gilbert White, in his Natu- 
ralist's Library Calender, regards honey-dews as the effluvia 
of flowers, evaporated and drawn up b to the atmosphere by 
the heat of the weather, and falling down again in the night 
with the dews that entangle them. But, if this were the 
ease, the fall would be indiscriminate, and we should not 
have it confined to particular trees and shrubs, nor would it 
be found on green-house and other covered plants. Some 
naturalists have regarded honey-dew as an exudation, or se- 
cretion , from the surface of those leaves upon which it is 
found, produced by some atmospheric stroke, which has in- 
jured their health. Dr. Donvin stands in this class. Others 
have viewed it as a kind of vegetable perspiration, which the 
trees emit for their relief,, in sultry weather ; its appearance 
being seldom observed in a cold summer. Dr. Evans is of 
this opinion, and makes the following comparative remarks : 
" As the glutinous sweat of the Negro enables him to bear 
the fervor of his native clime far better than the lymph-per- 
spiring European, so the saccharine dews of the orange, and 
the fragrant gum of the Cretan Oistus, may preserve them 

amidst the heat, even of the Torrid Zone." Mr. Curtis tells 
us that the honey-dew is an excrementitious matter, voided 

by the aphis or vine fretter, an insect which he regards as 

the general cause of what are called blighfs. He assures its 

that he never, in a single instance, observed the honey-dew 

unattended with aphides. 

His opinion is confirmed by the circumstance of its being 

generally found upon leaves which have others above them, 

the under side of which are inhabited by those insects. They 

may " be seen distinctly, with a small magnifier, on the leaves 

of the cherry, lime, hazel, &c, but invariably on the inferior 

surface, piercing the vessels, and expelling the honey-dew 



116 HONEY DEWS, 

from their posterior parts. They might easily have escaped 
the observation of the earlier philosophers, irum being fre- 
quently concealed within the curls of the leaves that are punc- 
tured."' 

I believe it will be found that there are, at least, two sorts, 
or kinds of honey-dew ; the one a secretion, from the surface 
of the leaf, occasioned by one of the causes just alluded to, 
the other a deposition from the body of the aphis. Sir J, 
E. Smith observes, of the sensible perspiration of plants, that 
when " watery, it can be considered only as a condensation 
of their insensible evaporation, perhaps from some sudden, 
change in the atmosphere. Groves of poplar or willow ex- 
hibit this phenomenon, even in England, in hot, calm weather, 
when drops of clear water trickle from their leaves, like a 
slight shower of/ain. Sometimes this secretion is of a saccha- 
rine nature, as Be La Hire observed in orange trees." It 
is somewhat glutinous in the tolia, or lime tree, rather resin- 
ous in poplar, as well as in Gistws Creticus. Ovid has made 
an elegant use of the resinous exudations of the Lombardy 
poplars, which he supposes to be the tears of Pheeton's sis- 
ters, who were transformed into those trees. Such exuda. 
tions must be considered as effusions of the peculiar secre- 
tions. 

"The loves of the ants and aphides have long been celebrated; 

and that there is a connection between th m, you may, at any 
time during the proper season, convince yourself; for you 
will always find the former very busy on those trees and 
plants on which the latter abound ; and if you examine more 
closely, you will discover that the object of the ants, in thus 
attending upon the aphides, is to obtain the saccharine fluid 
secreted by them, which may well be denominated their milk. 
This fluid, which is scarcely inferior to honey in sweetness, 
issues in limpid drops from the abdomen of those insects, not 
only by the ordinary passage, but also by two setiform tubes 



HONEY DEWS. 117 

placed, one on each side, just above it. Their suckers being- 
inserted in the tender bark, are, without intermission, em- 
ployed in absorbing the sap, which, after it has passed through 
the system, they keep continually discharging by these or- 
gans. When no ants attend them, by a sudden jerk of the 
body, which takes place at regular intervals, they eject it to 
a distance." Mr. Knight once observed a shower of honey- 
dew descending in innumerable small globules, near one of 
his oak trees, on the first of September. The power which 
these insects possess of ejecting the fluid from their bodies 
seems to have been wisely instituted to preserve cleanliness 
in each individual fly, and indeed for the preservation of the 
whole family ; for, pressing as they do upon one another, they 
would otherwise soon be glued together, and rendered inca- 
pable of st ; rr'ng. When the ants are at hand, watching the 
mo nent at which the aphides emit their fluid, they suck it 
down immediately ; this, however, is the least of their tal- 
ents ; for they absolutely possess the art of making the aph- 
ides yield it at their pleasure, or, in other words, milking 
them, at their pleasure. The ant ascends the tree, says Lin- 
eus, that it may milk the cows, not kill them. Huber in- 
forms us that the liquor is voluntarily given out when solicited 
by the ant, the latter tapp ; ngthe aphis gently, but repeated" 
ly, with its antennae, and using the same motion as when ca- 
ressing its own young. He thinks, when the ants are not at 
hand to receive it, that the aphi< retains the liquor for a longer 
time, and yields it freely, and apparently without sustaining 
the least detriment ; for, even after acquiring wings, it shows 
no disposition to escape. A single aphis supplies many ants 
with a plentiful meal. The ants occasionally form an estab- 
lishment for their aphides, constructing a building in a secure 
place, at a distance from their own city, to which, after forti- 
fying it, they transport those insects and confine them under 
a guard, like cows upon a dairy farm, to supply the wants of 



118 HONEY DEWS. 

the metropolis. The aphides are provided with a hollow, 
pointed proboscis, folded under the breast when the insect is 
rot feeding, with which instruHieht they puncture the turgid 
vessels of the leaf, stock or bark, and suck, with great avidi- 
ty, their contents, which are expelled nearly unchanged ; so 
that, however fabulous it may appear, they may literally be 
said to void a liquid sugar. On looking steadfastly at a group 
of these insects, {Apliides SaJicis) while feeding- on the bark 
of the wiliow,their superior size enables us to perceive some of 
them elevating their bodies and emitting a transparent sub- 
stance, in the form of a small shower. 

" Nor scorn ye now, fond elves, the foliage sear, 
When the light aphides, armM with puny spear, 
Probe each emulgent vein till bright below, 
Like falling stars, clear drops of nectar glow." 

The willow accommodates the bees in a kind of threefold suc- 
cession ; from the flowers they obtain both honey and farina, 
from the bark, propolis, and the leaves frequently afford 
them a plenty of honey-dew, and at a season when other re- 
sources are beginning to fail. 

Honey-dew usually appears upon the leaves as a viscid, 
transparent substance, as sweet as honey itself, sometimes in 
the form of globules, at others resembling a syrup. It is 
generally the most abundant from the middle of June to the 
middle of July, and sometimes as late as September. I' is 
found chiefly upon the oak, the elm, the maple, the sycamore, 
the lynden, or basswood, the lime, the willow, the hazel, the 
blackberry, and occasionally upon currant, cherry and other 
fruit trees — sometimes upon only one species of irees at a 
time. The oak generally affords the largest quantity. At 
the season of its greatest abundance, the happy humming of 
the bees may be heard at a considerable distance from the 
trees, sometimes nearly equalling, in loudness, the united hum 
of swarming. 

Honey dews usually occur pretty extensively every three 



HONEY DEWS. 119 

or four years, but to some extent, in most localities, eve r y 
year. The honey-clew was noticed by the ancients, and is 
mentioned by Pliny by the faneifu 1 designation of "the sweat 
of the heavens and the sa'iva of the stars," though he ques- 
tioned whether it is not a deposition from the air, purging it 
from some contracted impurity. More modern philosophers 
have been quite as erroneous and discordant in their opinions 
in relation to its nature. Some, with the most unmitigated 
asperity, declare it i* the excrement of aphides ; others as 
exclusively maintain that it is aii atmospheric deposit; and 
a third party considers that it arises from bleeding conse- 
quent upon the wounding of some insects. That there may 
be a glutinous saccharine fluid found upon the leaves of plants, 
arising from the first and third named causes, is probable, or 
rather, certain; but. this is by no means conclusive that 
there is not a similar liquid, extravasated upon the surface of 
the leaves, owing to some unhealthy action of their vessels 
After noticing the theores of many ancient and modern nat- 
uralists and apiarians, there is no question but what the hon- 
ey-dews are caused by those small insects called aphides. 

There are, it is true, many specips of dews, and some of 
them are called honey-dews, but arising from the above 
named causes ; consequently they differ widely from the dew 
caused by the aphides. 



120 BEES WAX. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



Befs Wax. 



Wax is a vegetable product, deriving its origin from the 
saccharine principles existing abundantly in the products of 
nature. It is found upon the upper surface of the leaves of 
many trees, in the form of varnish, and possessing all the 
qualities of bees-wax. The wax bearing myrtle, (Myriea 
CeriferiJ a shrub which grows abundantly in Louisiana and 
other parts of the United States, and there is also in many 
parts of the East and West India islands, shrubs that produce 
wax in great abundance. The myrtle bears a small berry, of 
which wax fonts its outer coa'ing, and when exposed to a 
flame, burns with an agreeable aromatic odor. Doct. Darwin 
supposes that the design of the waxen varnish which ( overs 
the flowers, is " to glaze over the f emulating dust of the an- 
thers, and prevent its premature explosion from excess of 
moisture," and ascribes to an unreasonable diffusion of an- 
ther dust, the failure of orchards and corn crops, in summers 
of extreme humidity. 

The quantity of wax found in this form is small,compared 
with that which is produced by the honey bee, and also of in- 
ferior quality. When pure it is of a whiteish color and des- 
titute of taste, with scarcely any smell ; it grows brown and 
even black with age. After manipulation it; has an arromatic 
smell, which, however, disappears on exposure to the atmos- 
phere. The dust of flowers, called pollen or farina, was long 
supposed to be the element of wax, and it is a curious in- 
stance of the tardy progress of the knowledge of Natural 
History, that though the mode in which wax is produced by 



BEES WAX. 121 

the bees, was ascertained beyond all doubt by Huber, over 
forty yea' s ago, there is yet little known and scarcely believed, 
and farina has with many, still the credit of being what is 
vailed " crude wax." litiffoh was of this opinion, and, in an 
edition of his work published as late as 1821, no notice is ta- 
ken of the recent discoveries on the subject, which prove his 
opinions to be erroneous. Reaumur was inclined to believe 
that pollen, by receiving some peculiar elaboration from the 
bees, was converted in the stomach to real wax, and disgorg- 
ed under the appearance of paste. Later observers, however, 
denied that wax was disgorged by the mouth ; they affirmed 
that it exuded from the rings of the abdomen, in the form 
uf small scales, and that pollen was used for very different 
purposes. That this last mentioned substance is not the 
prime constituent of wax, was a conclusion drawn by repeat- 
ed and accurate observations by our most celebrated Apia- 
rians. It has been observed, for instance, that pollen is car- 
ried into the hives in great abundance, that were already 
rilled with comb ; that it is often of various colors, while new 
combs are always of a pure white ; that new swarms for a 
iVw days carry in no pollen, although their first work to be 
done after being hived, is the building of new combs, which 
progresses with unremitting rapidity, and that while it has 
been ascertained that 100 pounds of pollen has been carried 
into a hive during one season, the whole weight of the comb 
in the hive when separated from the honey and farina, weighs 
something less than two pounds. 

Huber lodged a young swarm in a straw hive, furnished 
them with honey and water, and after five days confinement 
he perceived that they had consumed the whole of their pro- 
visions, and had constructed several combs of beautiful wax. 
These combs were removed and more honey given them, and 
and the result was the same. This removal was made five 
times successively, and on each occasion, being supplied ex- 
K 



122 BEES WAX. 

elusively with honey, they produced new combs ; thus put- 
ting it beyond dispute, that this substance effected the secre- 
tion of wax in the body of the bee. And farther, to ascertain 
whether the saccharine principle were the real source of wax, 
he supplied the captive bees with sugar in the form of syrup, 
and the result was still the same ; wax was produced, and 
that in a shorter period and in greater abundance than from 
honey ; as the reverse of this experiment would prove wheth- 
er pollen had the same property, instead of supplying the be^s 
with honey or sugar, he fed them only on fruit and farina- 
They were kept captives eight days under a glass bell, with 
a coiiib having only farina in the cells, yet they neither made 
wax nor were there any scales of wax on their abdomen, as 
was the case when honey and sugar were used. 

It is but justice to the Scotch Bee Master, Bonner, to re- 
mark, that, amidst the errors that prevailed on this subject; 
during his day, he had a strong impression of the real source 
of wax, and the manner of its secretion. In this, as in other 
parts of bee science, his natural acutenessand shrewdness of 
observation, led him to the very verge of some of the most 
important of those facts in the natural history of bees, which 
we owe to the more scientific researches of Huber. 

" I have sometimes," says he, " been inclined to think that 
wax might be an excrescent exudation, or production from 
the abdomen of the bee, and that the Queen can lay eggs 
when she pleases, so, if required, the worker bees can pro- 
duce wax from the substance of their own bodies. If this 
conjecture be right, it will follow of course, that all the food 
which a bee takes, contributes to the formation of wax in the 
same manner as all. the food a cow eats, contributes to the 
nourishment of her body, and the production of miik ; (bees 
consume much more honey or sugar when wax is required,) 
-or, to adopt a nearer simile from the insect tribe, as alt the 
food a spider takes, contributes not only to the nourishment 



DEES WAX. 123 

of the animal, but to the production of the substance of the 
cob-web from its body. Numberless other analogies in na- 
ture might be cited in proof of the probability of this theory. 
The silk for instance, produced from the body of the silk- 
worm, is a substance as different from that of the animal it- 
self, or of (he mulberry leaf it feeds upon, as wax is from 
that of the body of the bee, or of the honey or flower she 
sucks. And the ex<resence produced in the human ear, 
which goes by the name of wax, is certainly as different from 
the substance of the body which produces it, as either the 
one or the other. Upon the whole, until I meet with a more 
I robable theory supported by facts, I must give it as my 
humble opinion, that the wax is produced only one way, and 
in all cases upon the abdomen of the bee, in very small mi- 
nute scales, and that wax canno* be produced unless the bee 
feeds upon honey or sugar, or what honey and sugar is pro- 
duced from, and that bees do not produce wax continually, 
but only at such times as comb is needed in the storing up 
of honey, and at such times bees consume a much greater 
amount of food than when there is no need of comb.^- 
1 here give the Analysis of Bees Wax, as given by Dr. Bevan: 

Carbon, - - -81,79, 

Oxygen, - - - 5,54, 

Hydrogen, 12,67, 

The formation of resin or wax, has been explained thus : 
That when a volatile or fixed oil is expelled out of plants, 
and has its surface exposed to the air, the first becomes a res- 
in by loosing hydrogen, the second a wax, by absorbing oxy- 
gen, f 

To Wax Purchasers. I will give a few useful hints of the 
way to tell good wax. Draw your thumb nail over it care- 



'See Bonner on Bees, page 105. 



t Parker's Chemical Catechism, page 244, llth edition. 



124 BEES WAX. 

fully, and if it goes over it roughly and sticks upon the nail, 
it is a sign of good wax ; but if the nail passes over it smooth- 
ly, it is a certain proof it has been adulterated with suet or 
other greasy substances, which is very often done to swindle 
the public and more especially peddlers. 

Directions for Extracting Wax from Combs. Put the 
comb 1o be reduced to wax into a bag made of strainer cloth, 
not filling the bag very full, and then immerse it in a kettle 
or boiler of hot water ; sink it in the water two or three 
inches below the surface, turn it over occasionally when boil- 
ing, and the wax will all boil out in 30 or 40 minutes, if you 
keep up a bris^- heat, and be ready to strain, although 
most of the wax will rise on the top, if the bag is turned 
over constantly, in less time than it may be strained by 
squeezing in the usual way ; most of the wax will be extract- 
ed before that time, and it can be poured oif into a vessel to 
cool. If the wax is to be white, pour it or sprinkle it on to 
a board or smooth surface while hot, so it will appear in thin 
scales, then expose to the rays of the sun for a few days, and 
by so doing it will become perfectly white. Another way is 
by melting it occasionally, and it will become almost perfect- 
ly white in a short time, then cake to suit the fancy. Many 
times the comb may contain young brood, but in boiling, the 
wax will all arise on top, and the residue after squeezing, is 
of course, good for nothing, as it contains cocoons, bee- 
bread, and yourgbees, many times. Old comb does not pro* 
duce the amount of wax that new comb does, according to the 
weight. A common box hive will usually produce from one 
to two pounds of wax, if all the comb is worked into wax, 

Bees Wax forms a considerable article of commerce, and 
large quantities of it are annually imported into this country 
from South America, Mexico and Cuba. According to sta- 
tistics, Mexico has imported some seasons over a hundred 
I ' " "■-■---« «« ih at Cuba exoorts annually 



FARINA, OR POLLEN. 125 

to New Spain, near a hundred thousand dollars worth of it, 
lesides the other large amounts that she exports to other 
countries. According to Buffon, the wax in southern hit tudes 
is not as good in quality, as that raised in cool climates. Can- 
ada produces an immense amount of wax annually • Russia 
also exports it in gr» at abundance. 



CHAPTER IX- ■ 

Farina, or Pollen. 

Farina, or pollen, is the fertilizing dust of flowers, and 
forms a very important ingredient in the nourishment of the 
young bees. Before the discovery of the true origin of wax, 
it was supposed to constitute the rude material of that sub- 
stance, being taken into the stomach and converted, by some 
peculiar action of that organ, into real wax; and hence, 
among French naturalists, it had obtained the name of crude 
wax. The bees eagerly set about collecting this nutnVious 
substance as soon as the season affords it, and continue to do 
so throughout the season, not only for immediate use, but al- 
so for storing up against the season when it cannot be ob- 
tained abroad. There are many species of plants, trees and 
shrubs that afford bee-bread in great abundance. Bees are 
often seen carrying in pollen very early in the Spring, long 
before vegetation starts. In such cases it is obtained from 
willow, balm gilead, basswood, maple, and several other 
species of trees, according to the the portion, or section, of 
country that it is in. It is always to be observed that the 
*k 



126 FARFNA, OR POLLEN. 

farina carried in early Spring, is of a greenish color/ — 
There is scarcely a flower that grows that does not yield 
pollen, to a greater or less extent. The pumpkin, squash 
and sun flower yield it in great abundance. It has always 
been observed that bees collect pollen from only one species 
of flower upon the same excursion, as the little pellets upon 
their hind legs are always of one color. At the season of 
the year when the flowers produce honey, the bee not only 
collects a quantity of farina, but also a load of honey. So 
great a desire have the bees for storing up farina, that many 
times they nearly All their hives with this substance. This 
is the case with older swarms. Many times, on examining 
a hive three or four years old, nearly one-half the weight of 
the hive consisted of bee-bread. But this is not the case with 
young swarms, as they frequently suffer for the want of it. 
the ensuing winter; and, many times, the colony is lost for 
the want of bee-bread, as they cannot rear their young with- 
out it, and hence the great necessity of having a hive in 
which you can equalize the bee-bread, as well as the honey, 
among the different colonies. After the hive has been occu- 
pied one year, it generally has a surplus of bread, nd, like 
honey, it grows worse after the first year, and accumulates 
in large quantities. The bees seem to take a dislike to it, 
after it has been stored up for one season, and this accounts, 
in a great measure, for the fact that bees, in early Spring, 
are seen to carry in fresh bee-bread, as they prefer it much 
to the old stock that they may have on hand. When a hive 
contains a surplus of farina, it is a great damage to the bees, 
as stich cells are neither fit to store honey, nor to brood in. 
When there is an over stock of bee-bread and black comb, 
the bees should be removed from the hive, or the comb re- 
moved every two or three years. (See chapter on the Ke- 
mpval of Bees.) 



FARINA, OR POI.LEX. 127 

I would here remark, for the benefit of those who enter- 
tain the erroneous impression that the honey-bee carries the 
wax to the hive on the baskets of his hindermost legs, that 
they never carry wax in that manner, but farina, or bee- 
bread, and when they have a use for propolis they carry that 
on their legs also, and these are the only substances ever 
seen upon the legs of bees. (For particulars on Propolis see 
Chapter X.) 

The collection of pollen by the bees is made, in the great- 
est, quantity, in the earlier part of the day, before the heat of 
the sun has dried up the moisture which renders it more ea- 
sily packed into the little masses which adhere to their legs. 
After they are fully loaded, they return lo their hive and 
deposit their burden in cells in which there is neither honey 
nor brood. The manner in which a bee unloads itself has 
been already noticed. 

A Substitute for Bee-Bread. Take common rye meal, or 
buckwheat flower, place it where the bees can have access to 
it, and in another vessel place seme water. If bees 
can be favored this way in the months of February and 
March, it will great iy advance early swarming. (See chap- 
ter on Feeding.) 



12S PROPOLIS, OR BEE-GLUE. 



CHAPTER X. 

Propolis, or Bee-Glue. 

Propolis is a tenacious substance^ generally of a dull grey 
color, gathered by the bees from the buds of certain trees, in 
early Spring; especially from the alder, the birch, the pop- 
lar, and the willow. It is of great, use to the insect, in vari- 
ous ways. The ancients supposed it to consist of three clif* 
ferent substances, or rather, perhaps, of three modifications 
of the same substance, according to the different proportions 
of wax blendtd with it. Huber, to ascertain the fact of its 
origin, stuck some branches of the wild poplar in pots of 
earth, in front of his apiary. The bees immediately discover* 
ed them, and set about loading themselves with the identical 
substance which he had often detected adhering totheir hives, 
in the same manner as farina. He observed them " sepa- 
rating the folds of the buds with their teeth, drawing out 
threads of the viscous substance, and lodging a pellet of it 
in one of the baskets of their limbs." He ascertained far- 
ther that branches newly cut did not seem to attract the in- 
sect ; the viscous matter in them had less consistency, and 
therefore did not suit their purpose. The branches he used 
had been cut some time. This last circumstance seems some- 
what unaccountable. It can be but seldom, generally speak- 
ing, that the bees have it in their power to gather propolis 
from cut branches ; in point of fact, at a time when they 
most need that material, we see them busied, in hundreds, on 
the growing trees, and bringing it home in large quantities 
The bees also resort to the different gum and balsamic trees, 
such as the spruce, pine, balsam, hackmatac, &c. In many 
portion; of the Northern States, the bees make a great use of 



PROPOLIS, OR BEE-GLUE. 129 

spruce gum in filling up cracks and crevices ; sometimes 
they blend a little wax with it, and, at others, they use it in 
its pure state. Sometimes they resort to the hollyhock, as it 
is somewhat of a gummy plant. The bees employ this sub- 
stance in the commencement of the structure of their comb, 
to attach it more firmly to the foundation than could be ef- 
fected by wax alone, which is neither so tenacious nor attains 
to so great a degree of hardress. Indeed, it possesses the 
former ot these qualities to such a degree that the bees find 
s ome difficulty in detaching the pellets from the baskets on 
their legs, and have been observed availing themselves of the 
aid of their companions/or that purpose. And hence, aware of 
its tenacity,they are observed gathering it only in the heat of 
the day, when it is rendered mor*? ductile by the warmth. It 
is employed to attach the edges of the comb to the sides of the 
hive, where it forms a projection from the comb and serves 
the purpose of a iiointd'ajtjpui. Every bee-master is familiar 
with the use made of it, in fastening the hives to the bottom 
board. It is especially employed as an effective barrier 
against the intrusion of enemies. The bees have been ob- 
served contracting, by means of propolis, the entrances of 
their hives, and erecting something resembling barricades 
with it, when they have reason to tear the death-headed hawk- 
m r th, though the latter is but little known in this country 
The mime propolis,* given to this substance by the ancients, 
prove that the use the bees make of this resinous exudation 
in fortifying their dwellings, has long been known. We have 
one or two amusing instances recorded of a farther use 
which their instinct has taught them to make of this sub- 
stance. A shell-snail had found its way into one of Reau- 
mur's hives, and fastened itself, by means of its slime, to the 
elass. The bees, unable to remove it, fell upon a method* 



*Propolis, compounded of the Greek words fro and polis, signify- 
ing " before the City, 1 ' 



130 DRONE, OR MALE BEE. 

and at a small expense of labor and material, of preventing 
any annoyance from the intruder. They formed a body of 
propolis around the edges of the shell, where it rested on the 
glass, and thus fixed it immovably. A flug-snail had crawl- 
ed into a hive of Moraldi's, and was disposed of in a similar 
manner, though with more violence. The bees immediately 
surrounded it and stung it to death. The disposal of the 
dead body was the next consideration. It was too bulky to 
be removed by their puny efforts, but they covered it over 
with propolis, thus completely preventing the injuria us effects 
that might have arisen from putrefaction. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Drone, or Male Bee. 

The drone, or male bee is the only perfect male in the 
hive, and the only office assigned them by naturalists is to 
pair with the young Queens. They make their appearance 
about the end of April, or first of May, and are seldom seen- 
after the month of August, except under very peculiar cir 
cumstances. When a colony has lost their Queen, then the 
drones are killed by violence, but otherwise they would live* 
probably, to nearly one year before they would die with old 
age. They are much larger than the worker bee, nearly 
twice as thick, and of a dark color. Many of them have a 
white or yellow ring encircling the body. They have shorter 
jaws, as well as shorter proboscises, and are more blunt at the 
-,•4. ,» or , P m, er t ] le Oncers 01 workers. The last ring 



DRONE, OR MALE BEE. 131 

of the body is fringed with hair, extending over the tail, and 
visible to the naked eye. They make a loud noise in flying 
and are destitute of baskets on their thighs. They have no 
sting and are rather shorter than the Queen, but otherwise much 
larger. Underneath their tail, two small protuberances, of a 
yellowish color, may be seen, which are regarded as distinct- 
ive marks of their sex. In some hives, drones hatch much 
more abundantly than in others, owing to the larger amount 
of drone comb, as the more drone comb the nive contains, the 
more drones will I e hatched from that hive. Many times 
the drones in a hive will consti ute nearly one-third of the 
whole population, and, sometimes, much more than that, and 
at other times there will be scarcely any at all; but nine- 
tenths of bees generally, in common hives, are overrun with 
these worthless consumers; Too many drones are much 
worse than none at all. If a bee-keeper has several swarms 
of bees on hand, one hive would be sufficient for the rearing 
of drones, and, even then, one hundred would be better than 
one thousand, and if there were neighboring apiaries, within 
a mile or two, it .would be still better if there were no drones, 
at all, raised, as the Queen never pairs with but one drone 
during her whole life. Let the bee-keeper ever bear in mind 
that when drones are discovert d in a hive in the last of Sep- 
tember and first of October, or later, there is no Queen in 
that hive. This is invariably the case. There are, also ? 
other signs about a hive showing the loss of the Queen, which 
will be mentioned in another chapter. For further descrip- 
tion of drones, see chapter on Anatomy and Senses of Bees. 



132 FEEDING BEES. 



CHAPTER XII. 



Feeding Bees. 

This is a business which is in general, very injudiciously man- 
aged by all classes of bee keepers ; we have found it necessary 
in very many cases to feed bees, but it should always be man- 
aged with care and caution. I am aware much has been said, 
upon the subject of feeding bees. It is not advisable to feed 
bees in the way that many do, by placing the food in an open 
trough, in front of the bee house, as it will many times set the 
bees to robbing, and should be avoided. 

Ci r cumstahces under wliich Bees need Feeding. If the 
bee-keeper has a late swarm that will not winter without feed- 
ing, or if he has a swarm that is nearly wintered through, to 
such, many times, feeding may be necessary to carry them safely 
into the honey season ; in order to feed bees safely and profita- 
bly, it is very necessary that the Apiarian has a proper kind of 
hive ; there are several patent hives better adapted to feeding 
bees than for their management in general. My newly invented 
patent hive has many advantages over common hives in the way 
of feeding, putting several swarms together, as is necessary to do 
many times, of dividing a swarm and making two of it, &c. 
My hive is as well, if not better adapted for the feeding of bees 
than any hive now in use ; bees should always be fed from the 
top of the hive, for the top of the hive if properly constructed 
is nearly as warm as the interior amongst the bees ; the way 
and manner my hive is constructed is well adapted for feeding 
at any season of the year, as there is a dead air space the 
whole size of the hive, seven inches in height ; it can be made 
perfectly tight or ventilated if desired. 



FEEDING BEES 133 

The Tioper Time for Feeding Bees, is in the month of 
October ; then the Apiarian should examine his bees, and such 
as need feeding should be fed, and if possible, fed enough to 
last through the winter ; if the feed is in the form of honey in 
the comb, the bee-keeper should take a fork and scratch the caps 
of the honey cells, and the bees will extract the honey therefrom 
and carry it below and deposit it in the combs ; after the honey 
has been placed in the air-chamber, when the top of the hive is 
raised up to admit the feed, care should be taken in shutting it 
down, so as not to injure any of the bees ; if the food is in the 
form of liquid honey or sugar syrup, then it should be placed in 
a dish or pan } over which place some loose straws cut to the 
length of the dish to keep the bees from getting drabbled in the 
contents, as the straws will flo;\t upon the surface of the 
liquid, and remain in the bottom of the dish after the feed is ta- 
ken up. If the colony is a suitable one for wintering, it will 
take up two or three quarts in twenty-four hours lime. The 
bee-keeper should never attempt to winter a small swarm, es- 
pecially if they are to remain out of doors. For particulars in 
wintering and doubling swarms, see another chapter. The cus- 
tom of feeding bees at the bottom of the hive, as many bee- 
keepers do, is generally attended with much trouble, and some- 
times great loss of b es ; when bees are fed from the bottom of 
the hive, if in warm weather as it should be for the bees to come 
down from the combs above, it is very apt to attract the atten- 
tion of neighboring colonies. At the season of the ye^r when 
there is no honey to gather from the fields, there is nothing that 
will induce bees to robing sooner than feeding from the bottom 
of the hive ; but my system of management overcomes every- 
thing of this kind, the food being put into the top of the hive, 
and shut up tight, then of course no other hive knows an\ thing 
about it ; in this way bees can be fed safely whenever you have 
cccasion to feed them. The bee-master should be } articular in 
removing the slats from the honey board, so that the bees can 
have free ingress and egress from the hive below. 
L 



134 FEEDING BEES. 

Bees never should be fed in the honey season, when there is a 
plenty of honey in the fields, for by so doing it often creates in 
bees, thievish, indolent habits. If the bee-keeper wishes to feed 
his bees in cold weather, he must put them imo a warm room 
where there is a fire, and keep them there until they have car- 
ried all their feed down and deposited it in the combs below ; it 
is bad policy for Apiarians to be continually feeding their bees, 
but when bees are fed they should have a full supply, enough 
to carry them into the coming honey season. Be s eat much 
less honey when deposited in their hives where they can help 
themselves ; feeding them often keeps them so much agitated 
that they will require four times the honey that they otherwise 
would. In order to prepare food for bees, if it is southern honey 
that is to be fed, it should be placed over the fire and brought to 
a boiling point, and then allowed to cool. This boiling process 
evaporates all the poisonous qualities the honey might contain, 
as much of the southern honey is gathered from poisonous flow- 
ers. See chapter on honey pasturage. If sugar is to be fed, it 
should first be reduced to a syrup, and when cold add the white 
of an egg to every ten pounds of the syrup, then place it over 
the fire and fetch it up to the boiling point, and skim it as fast as 
the scum rises. The syrup should be of the consistency of 
common molasses when cold ; if it is thinner than that, the 
watery part of it will have to evaporate before the bees can seal 
it over. I have known many bee-keepers in my experience, to 
buy southern honey and sugar and feed their bees with it, so that 
they might realize a large amount of surplus honey for market; 
sometimes when sugar is low, and box honey high, it will pay 
very well, providing the bee-keeper has a plenty of spare honey 
comb to insert into his boxes ; but if he compels his bees to 
make the comb, he will find it an up hill business. I trust my 
readers will bear in mind that such honey as this is not like the 
honey made from the fields and gardens of the New England 
States ; some people imagine they can give their bees brown su- 



FEEDING EEF-S. 3 35 

gar, and the result would be No. 1 honey, like that made from 
the white clover ; but we would inform such bee-keepers, that 
the sugar does not undergo any chemical change by the bees tak- 
ing it from the feeding trough and depositing it in the hive, but 
is sugar still, although it may pass for honey when all sealed up 
in the comb, with those that are not familiar with the different 
qualities of honey ; although bees will winter upon this food as 
well as upon white clover honey, if they have it deposited in the 
hive in the fall. Plain sugar candy is an excellent substitute 
for honey ; it should be reduced to a syrup, although some bee- 
keepers give it to the bees in the stick. 

The bee-keeper should furnish all his bees on the fat of 
March with rye meal or buckwheat flour ; if this kind of food is 
not handy, wheat flour will answer ; they should also have water 
and salt, and the water should be covered with straws as in honey 
feeding, to prevent the bees from drowning, and the salt should 
be moistened with a few drops of water ; all these assist greatly 
in bringing forward an early swarm, and also in contributing 
largely to the health of the swarm in general. The flour when 
kneaded into bread by the bees, answers every purpose of farina, 
Liid in fact, they much prefer it to the old bread they may have 
in the hive. Bee-bread and water are the first articles bees go 
in pursuit of in early spring, and many times necessity drives 
them from the hive so early in the spring, that hundreds are 
lost by getting chilled with the cold ; hence the importance of 
supplying the bees with those necessaries, so that they may 
swarm early and throw off powerful swarms ; in the use of my 
hive all these things can be accomplished a month earlier in the 
season, especially if the hive is kept in-doors. 



136 SWARMING OF BEES. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



Swarming of Bees. 

The swarming of bees is a sight that bee-keepers delight to 
see. Much, I am aware, has been said upon the subject of 
swarming, both pro and con ; as bees iLcrease in number, in- 
stinct appears to have taught them that when their hive became 
full a portion of them must emigrate and seek a new home ; bees 
generally swarm for the want of room ; should the bee-keeper 
increase his hive in size as the bees increase in numbers, it is not 
often that they will attempt to swarm ; when a swarm is thrown 
off the parent hive is usually full of comb filled with honey, bee- 
bread, and young brood ; if it is an old hive, much of the comb 
will contain bee-bread, whilst a smaller portion will contain the 
brood, and it very frequently happens that there is but little 
honey at the time of the first swarm being thrown off. 

The more rapidly bees breed, the more rapidly do they con- 
sume honey ; it is very seldom that bees can lay up any surplus 
honey until the white clover appears, although they may have 
had access to the different species of flowers for weeks; perhaps 
apple tree blossoms, raspberry blossoms, dandelions, &c. There 
are many symptoms or signs, says a modern bee-keeper, to lead 
the Apiarian to suppose that his bees are about to swarm. When 
bees hang upon the outside of the hive in large numbers, as they 
very frequently do, it is a sign they anticipate swarming soon, 
but more properly speaking, it is a sign they want more room in 
the interior of the hive. There are thousands of bee-keepers 
who have kept bees for many years, and yet are not aware of 
the cause why bees do not swarm regularly. There is always 
more or less trouble with bees every year in regard to swarming, 
and but few bee-keepers as yet have learned the true cause. 



SWARMING OF BEES. 137 

This season seems to have been worse for bees in this respect, 
than any previous season fur many years. This year, 1858, up 
to August 1st, there is not a colony in twenty th it has swarmed 
at all, and the great inquiry among the Apiarians is, what is the 
cause of it ? I will endeavor to give the caus according to the 
best information I have obtained from the most celebrated Apia- 
rians, with my own researches upon the subject combined. This 
present season I have dissected and removed from the common 
hive to my patent hive, near a hundred swarms ; many of them 
I have found in a deplorable condition, and many of them near- 
ly destroyed by the millers, and others nearly out of honey, 
while many more were destitute of Queens and young brood; 
by providing them with a Queen, when convenient to do so, or 
adding them to another colony that had a fertile queen, 
I have been enabled to save them all. I will here men- 
tion some of the principal causes why bees have not swarmed : 
In the first place, the year 1857 was a very unfavorable year 
for bees in the New England States ; there were but few bees 
that secured honey enough to carry them through the winter, 
then we had quite as bad a winter for bees as the previous sum- 
mer, being quite an open one with much warm weather, that 
would naturally induce bees from the hive, and when bees once 
leave the hive in winter, they seldom if ever return ; after bees 
become chilled they alight upon the first object in their way, and 
{here perish ; and again, with many swarms that were over two 
years old, the interior part of the hives were in such bad condi- 
tion that it was impossible for a colony to breed fast enough, 
considering the small mount of room in the interior part of the 
hive that they had for the conveniences of breeding. In many 
hives after they have been occupied three years and over, the 
comb becomes so black and dirty, that the bees will neither 
brood nor store honey in it, and many times half of the cells and 
Fometime- more, will be filled with bee-bread, so there is but 
precious little room for the bees to store honey and brood in. It 
#1 



138 SWARMING OF BEES. 

beino- such a mild winter it induced many colonies to comm nee 
breeding early, and before the brood was fully developed, weeks 
of cold and wet weather followed, till the stock of honey was 
exhausted, and the workers were not then able to collect enough 
to meet the demands of the brood ; these in many instances 
perished, and in others were greatly retarded in their metamor- 
phosis and development. As a consequence, many of the young 
Queens were destroyed in at least two of every three colonies 1 ; 
this was more generally the case in the Western States than in 
the New England States. 

The only remedy I could suggest, would be to have them shift- 
ed from the old hive to one of my patent hives, as then the bee- 
keeper can remedy all these troubles that bis hives may be sub- 
ject to. While bees occupy the old style of board and straw 
hives, (and it is the case with nine-tenths of the patent hives 
now in use,) it is utterly impossible for the Apiarian to ascertain 
the true cause, when his bees do not prosper and do well. It is 
always best to let bees swarm if they will, to a certain extent ; 
in northern latitudes bees never should be allowed to swarm more 
than twice, and seldom but once; if favored by the right kind 
of season and a proper kind of hive, bees might be allowed to 
swarm twice profitably, all after swarms generally speaking, are 
a damage to the parent hive and should be prevented. 

Remedy to Prevent Swarming. To those bee-keepers using 
my patent hive : After the first swarm has departed, open the 
hive and examine all the combs, which can be done by taking 
out a card of comb and looking at both sides of it for the queen ; 
look the cards all through if she is not found before, and if she 
is not found upon the comb, then the bee-keeper may rest assur- 
ed that she is not yet hatched ; then examine for the sealed 
Queen's cells and cut out all but one and it will stop the swarm- 
ing of that colony for that year ; if it is in the early part of the 
year, the bee-keeper may have to examine his hives occasionally 
for a few weeks, and see that there are no more Queens raised ; 



SWARMING OF BEES. 139 

in this way swarming will be overcome, as bees cannot swarm 
unless there is a Queen to accompany them, this is the cause 
many times why bees return to the parent hive after attempting 
to swarm ; the Queen was not with them, if she had been they 
never would have returned to the parent hive again. There are 
various ways in which bees can be prevented from swarming • 
some of the ancient Apiarians resorted to the clipping of one of 
the wings of the Queen, and thus preventing her from leaving 
the hive, but according to my experience, the better way is to 
give them plenty of hive room and whenever they manifest a dis- 
position to swarm, prevent the hatching of Queens, and no 
swarming will take place. 

Artificial Swarming, or Dividing of Swarms. This can 
be brought about whenever it is desired, but should be done in 
the swarming season. Suppose the bee-keeper has a large col- 
ony of bees ; if he wishes to make two swarms of them he can 
do so by following the directions here mentioned. If the Apia- 
rian wishes to divide a swarm into two or more colonies, great 
care should be taken in putting the younger brood or eggs equal- 
ly in the different hives, so that the bees will have the means of 
rearing other Queens in case it is desired ; as the old hive con- 
tained but one hatched Queen, consequently one of the new col- 
onies, (in case two swarms are to be made from one,) will be 
without a Queen, and of course will have to rear them one, 
which they will readily do if they have worker eggs or larvae 
that are not overthree days old. It can be ascertained in a few 
hours time which hive contains the old Queen, as in the other 
hives they will immediately commence several royal cells. 
Then one of the hives should be placed upon the platform where 
the old hive stood, and the other one will have to be shut up for 
three or four days and supplied with water and honey should 
they need it, and then they can be let out safely; otherwise they 
would go back to the old familiar spot where the old hive 
stood. When a person is so situated that he can attend to his 



140 S WARNING OF BEES. 

bees as he should, it is preferable to let them swarm naturally, 
although he may have the trouble of hiving them three or four 
times, and then perhaps they will leave him for the wood?, un- 
less the bee-keeper possesses one of my patent regulators or 
Drone Killers ; by the use of that instrument, when proper- 
ly adjusted, the Queen cannot leave the hive, and the conse- 
quence is, the bees have to stay wherever they are put if the 
Queen is with them. See description of this instrument in chap- 
ter on hives. 

Bee Protectors. We have Bee Protectors that we can furn- 
ish to such bee-keepers as are naturally afraid of bees ; they are 
manufactured from a species of linen net-work that is perfectly 
bee-proof. The Apiarian should first put on a hat, as this pro- 
tec or is made to go over the crown of the hat and draw up with 
a gathering-string ; the part coming over the rim of the hat 
should be tucked under the collar of the coat or vest ; when 
the wearer ha^ this armor on he would hardly know it, from 
the fa^t of its being so open and light. If a bee-keeper wishes 
to try many experiments with his bees, the protector is a very 
important thing to have, as bees when disturbed, are more apt 
to seek the face than any other part of the body. The price of 
these protectors sent by mail, will be 36 cents, or 12 postage 
stamps ; if delivered in Burlington, 25 eents. Ladies can 
make use of them as well as gentlemen, by wearing a hat. 



TRANSFER OF BEES. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Transfer of Bees. 



141 



Directions for removing Bee-Comb and Honey from any 
kind of hive to Kidder s Patent Compound Hive. When a 
swarm is to be removed or changed, the operator takes a pail of 
cold water and sprinkles the hive thoroughly, especially if it is 
in warm weather, when the bees are out : then tip the hive up 
an inch or two in front, so as to expose the bottom board ; then 
sprinkle it again. The cold water has a very subduing ef- 
fect, and drives the bees up amongst the combs. Then carefully 
take up the hive that is to be removed, and carry it a few feet 
from the old stand, so as not to attract bees from other hives ; 
after taking the hive to be removed from the stand, have a box 
in readiness holding from two to three pecks; have the size, if 
possible, near the size of the hive that is to be changed ; if it 
should be too large, set the hive upon it cornering. A sheet is 
tied around the two, where they meet, in order to prevent the 
bees escaping, which, if folded lengthwise, will stop up all crevi- 
ces. The box should be placed bottom downward, under which f 
place a rope fifteen or twenty feet in length ; set the hive upon the 
box carefully, then wind the sheet around quickly, and fetch the 
rope over the top of the hive by means of a slip-noose in one 
end, and make it fast ; then wind the balance of the rope 
around the sheet, so as to shut them all in, and then carry them 
a few rods from the bee house, or stand. Turn the hive care- 
fully bottom upwards, so as bring ihe empty-box on the top ; 
then commence drumming them with a couple of sticks four 
times as large as common drum-sticks ; drum them briskly for 
twenty or thirty minutes, until they cluster in the top box, 
which they will do as soon as they gorge themselves with honey. 



142 TRANSFER OF BEES. 

They will nearly all cluster in the box, and as soon as the 
Queen joins them they will become quiet and still. When they 
are first agitated they set up a loud humming noise, thinking 
they are to be robbed. They fil! themselves with honey as rap- 
idly at possible. After they have been sufficiently drummed, the 
rope and sheet can be taken from the hive, and the box contain- 
ing the bees can be set one side, upon some sticks so that they 
will have a plenty of air. As soon as the hive is taken from the 
stand, there should be another empty hive or box placed upon 
the same spot, so that the bees that may be in the field will have 
a temporary home until the new hive can be returned, otherwise 
many of them might enter other hives, should they 
stand near by ; and when the new hive is ready to set up- 
on the stand, this decoy hive should be removed. Set it, bottom 
upwards, in front of the bee house, and all the scattering bees 
will find their way into the new hive in a few minutes. Care 
should be taken, when the new hive is placed upon the stand, to 
have it stand just where the old one stood, and whenever it is 
moved, especially in the honey season, it must be moved only a 
a few inches at a time, unless it is to be removed a mile or two. 
Now to the hive that has been drummed : after the sheet is taken 
from the hive, spread it upon the ground, or floor, as the case 
may be, and place the new hive in the centre of it ; take the top 
off, and also the honey-boards and boxes, should they be on ; 
take the comb guides out and place them near the table or bench 
where the transfer is to be made. If possible, place a board 
under the hive as it stands upon the sheet, and then raise itfrom 
the board by putting under it four little blocks one-fourth of an 
inch high, so that the bees can enter more readily, when shaken 
down in front of the hive. Returning again to the hive that is 
to be transferred, take a saw, or large knife, and loosen the comb 
from the sides of the hive that is to be removed; then, with the 
assistance of an axe, split or pry off one si J e, and if convenient, 
two sides, that the comb and honey may the more easily come 



TRANSFER OF BEES. 143 

out ; take out one piece of comb at a time, if it is suitable to 
put in a frame. Lay it upon the table, and lay the comb guide 
upon it, and, with a sharp knife, cut to the size of the guide. 
Have it come in the guide, after it is cut to the right size, the 
same side up that it was originally in the old hive. Fasten it in 
by means of a cotton twine, wrap it around the guide, both 
ways, and tie it fast, and so continue to do, until the wiio'e is 
removed from the old hive. Should there not be enough to 
fill the hive, insert empty frames. When the transfer is 
made at the commencement of the honey season, six or eight 
pounds of honey will be sufficient to give them ; but when 
made later in the season, then, of course, they will need more 
honey It will be necessary to give them all there is, and 
what cannot be put into the guides should be placed in a dish 
in the top of the hive. (See chapter on Feeding.) The 
hives should be ventilated and kept in a warm room for three 
days, so as to give the bees a chance to repair their combs, 
pack away the honey, &c, especially if it is cold, chilly 
weather. Shut them in the hive while in the house, and al- 
so when placed upon the stand. In warmer weather, but 
twenty-four hours would be sufficient to repair their combs. 
The reason why the hive should be closed for a day is to pre- 
vent robbing, until they get organized again. But the hive 
must be well ventilated when they are shut in. If in the 
honey season, the bees may have the full entrance after 
twenty -four hours ■ but if it is out of the honey season, con- 
tract the entrance to one-half inch, to prevent robbing, as 
bees can guard a small entrance much better than they can a 
large one. After the honey and comb have all been transfer- 
red, place the honey-boards over the combs, and either place 
some blocks over the holes in the honey-boards, or else place 
the boxes upon the boards, as it will not do to let the bees 
into the air chamber in the top, in the honey season, but, af- 
ter the honey season is over with, it should be free for the 



144 TRANSFER OF BEES. 

bees until the next honey season. After the hive is covered 
over properly, take the box that contains the bees and rhake 
them upon the sheet close to the entrance, and in a few min- 
utes they will enter. Should it be very warm weather, 
sprinkle them lightly with cold water, as that prevents them 
from flying. If they are sprinkled too much they will not 
enter at all. With the assistance of a wing, in keeping the en- 
trance clear, and also in winging them from the sides of the 
hive, they will soon enter. This transfer should be done as 
speedily as possible. It may be done, in bee* weather, any 
time between daylight and 5 o'clock in the afternoon. When 
bees cannot fly readily without getting chilled, it should take 
place in the house. Should any of the bees alight upon the 
window, after they get a little chilled they can be brushed up 
and put inside the hives. The twine should be taken off in 
twenty-four hours after, if not, they will have to drag it out 
themselves, which will cost them much time and labor. 

Any one following the directions here laid down, can transfer 
bees from one hive to another, any day in the year, successfully, 
and several swarms can be put together, if desired, (I have 
united as many as four or five, several times,) or a large swar.n 
can be diAided into two or more swarms, if done in the honey 
season, and afterwards, il the bee-keeper can furnish them with 
fertile Queens. Should the hive for transfer be of that style 
and make that it could not be inverted, it can be drummed in 
its natural position, as we frequently do with yonng swarms. 
Great care should be exercised not to destroy any more of the 
brood than can be helped, as there is more or less of 
it the year round. When two or more swarms are to be united, 
the first swarm should be an old one, so there will be comb 
enough to fill the guides ; put them in the hive as in the first 
instance; then scent them strongly with peppermint, winter- 
green, burgamot, or almost anything that has a strong andagree- 
abls scent; then take the second swarm, drum and scent them, 



REMOVAL OF BEES. 145 

and shake them down in front of the new hive, but far enough 
from it so that the Queen can be obtained as they pass in ; scent 
them all with the same material, and so continue to do till they 
are all united ; capture all the Queens except the first, if possi- 
ble. The time to do this is in September, after the honey sea- 
son is over. Give them what honry they need for the winter, 
and a plenty of air and water, and shut them in for three days ; 
*n that time they will get acquainted with each other, aud repair 
he comb, &c. If the apiarian uses my double hive, he had 
better put the bees into the smaller hive, and then let it stand 
by itself, upon a board, until cold weather, or set it in the larger 
one, as in winter quart *rs. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Removal of Bees. 

When be s are to be removed, care should be taken that 

they have plenty of air, or they will suffocate. When bees 

are agitated, as in moving, they require much more air than 

in ordinary times. I have frequently witnessed the ruin of a 

colony of bees just in that way, in warm weather, and when 

carried only a few miles. The usual way of carrying bees 

is simply this : if in the old style board hive, turn the hive 

bottom upwards, tack a piece of sacking or cotton cloth over 

the hive, that the inmates may be all kept in, and thus they 

are sent away ; and all the air that is afforded them is 

through the cloth over the mouth of the hive. This is not 

enough. It is very well to put the cloth over the mouth of 

M 



146 REMOVAL OF BEES. 

the hive, but there should be a piece of wire gauze, six or 
eight inches square, set iu the centre of it ; and also have 
two or three auger-holes about midway of the hive, covered, 
also, with wire gauze. These precautions should be st ictly 
adhered to, especially iu warm weather. If the swarm is to 
be removed only three or four miles, the wire gauze is not so 
essential. If they are removed in the winter, (which is the 
most appropriate time for removal) there will not be much 
danger of their suffocating ; but still they require some air. 
When bees suffocate, it becomes so warm in the interior part 
of the hive that the combs all melt down, and the bees are 
drowned in their own sweets. When the bees are to be re- 
moved in warm weather, they should be confined to the hive 
late in the evening or very early in the morning. If this is 
not done, many of them will be lost in consequence of being 
in the fields gathering honey. First place the cloth that is 
to cover the mouth of the hive upon the ground, in a smooth 
spot, near the bee-house. Then take it carefully from the 
stand and st iet upon the cloth, and with a few tacks, fasten 
it to the hive, so that none of the bees can escape. Should 
the bees be upon the outside of the hive, they should be 
sprinkled with cold water until they are all driven in. There 
are some styles of hives which would have to be carried in 
their natural position. Such should be ventilated with wire 
gauze only. 



BEE HIAES. 147 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Ble Hives. 

I am almost at a loss to know where to commence or 
where to leave the subject of bee hives, being well aware of 
t lie vast nun ber now in use, and many of them bear the 
name of patent. There are at the Patent Office, at "Wash- 
ington, nearly two hundred patent hives, and as many more 
lie in the rejected department not worthy of a patent. I am 
also well aware that the public have been swindled out of 
much money in the purchase of the highly extolled patent 
hives. The inventors of each of those hives will all tell the 
buyer that their hive is far superior to any other hives, and 
that a person has only to purchase one of them, and his for- 
tune is speedily realized. There are so many kinds of hives 
now in use, and they are all so highly recommended for their 
goo<l qualities, that the honest bee-keeper hardly knows 
which kin I to adopt and make use of, as it would prove a 
source of great expense to try them all, and experiment to 
ascertain which is the most practical hive. If a person 
should take that course, he might find himself minus both 
money and bees, unless he happened to have a fortune to 
commence with, which is not generally the esse with the mass 
of bee-keepers. 

I have used several kinds of patents, as well as non-pa- 
tents, and have not found any of them that had not some de- 
fect about them, and some of the most celebrated kinds at 
that. There are many hives now in vogue, and when the 
bees are well established in them, and the hive well filled 
with honey, I will admit it is a pleasant sight to open a 



148 EEE I11VES. 

small door, or move a slide, and see the sweet nectar that is 
there deposited. But when the bee-k eper wishes to appro- 
priate those precious sweets to his own use, how is he to get 
possession of it unless he first applies the brimstone, or else 
runs the risk of a pitched battle with the bees, in order to ob- 
tain their treasure. There are many hives so constructed 
that boxes can be placed on the top of them, and if the bees 
will deposit honey in them, the owner, of course, will get a 
little surplus honey. Bees dislike very much to deposit hon- 
ey on the top of the hive in boxes, which are, many times, old 
and filthy. Boxes for surplus honey never should be used 
on the hive the second time. They should be clean and new. 
Bees will work in such boxes much more readily than in 
boxes that have been used before. And then when the honey 
is sent to market, it will bring much more in nice, new boxes, 
than in the old ones. Whoever buys the honey, of course, 
will not object to pay the first cost on the box. 

The reason why Bees will not enter boxes at all times, and 
iKahe honey therein. In th'. first place, when the bee-keeper 
puts his spare honey-boxes upon the top of his hives, he is 
rather negligent about the opening leading from the hive to 
the boxes, to see it is of the proper size and clear from ob- 
struction. Many times the passages lead'ng to the boxes are 
so nearly closed up with propolis, or wax, that a bee cp.u 
hardly squeeze through from the hive to the box ; and then 
to take into consideration the irregularity in which the combs 
are built in the interior of the bive, and at the height of the 
honey season, when the bees should be er gaged in depositing 
honey in the boxes, and at that time there is usually a large 
amount of bees in the hive, and the distance from the en- 
trance of the hive to the boxes is perhaps eighteen or twenty 
inches, Can it be expected that the bees will even attempt 
to deposit honey in the boxes, under these u- favcrab'e cir- 



BEE HIVES. 149 

eumstances 1 This year, 1858, they have been known to do 
it only in a very few instances. 

If the bee-keeper has any desire to experiment upon this 
department of bee culture, let him place himself at the en- 
trance of one of his hives, where the bees are at work in 
the boxes. Let a bee be marked as he enters the hive, which 
can be done with a bit of chalk moistened with a little spit- 
tle, nd with the assistance of a straw touching a bit to the 
back of the bee, thus leaving a white spot which the bee 
will carry some length of time. When the bee enters the 
hive, let the bee-master take his watch and time him from the 
entrance of the hive to the honey-boxes and back, and then 
from the hive to the fields and back, and he will perceive 
that it takes the bee more than ten times as long to go from 
the entrance of the hive to the boxes and back, as it does to 
go to the fields for the honey. I repeat, can it be expected 
by a sensible bee-master that the bees will wend their way 
between those densely crowded combs to get into the boxes 
while there is room elsewhere ? Many times, the distance 
the bee has to travel in order to enter the boxes is several feet, 
owing to the irregularity of the combs. It is a well known 
fact that bees never will work in boxes of any kind, until 
they have first filled the main hive, unless it is a young 
swarm put into a hive where the boxes were already attach- 
ed. Under these circumstances they will sometimes com- 
mence in the boxes first. It is not advisable, from this fact, 
to let a young swarm commence in the boxes first. If al- 
lowed to do so, the Queen will deposit eggs in the combs. 
And should the season prove unfavorable for bees, their 
whole stock of honey, perhaps, would be in the boxes, where 
it would be impossible for them to winter in safety I have 
always found, in my experience with bees, that it never was 
advisable to add the !>oxes to a new colony under six or 
eight days after hiving. Bees will store up honey in the main 
# m 



150 BEE HI YES. 

hive much -faster than in boxes. The nearer to the entrance 
of the hive the pb.ce of deposit is, the faster the bees will 
store it up; hence the necessity of having a hive where the 
cards of comb can be taken away from the bees when full, 
or a part of one if desired, and give the bees an opportunity 
to build another one in its place, and not disturb the bees, in 
the least, when it is removed. Such are the advantages of 
my Patent Hive. The great mass of hives now T in use are so 
constructed that the apiarian has but little control over the 
interior part of the hive. Mary of them are composed of a 
succession of boxes, and their inventors will tell you that 
when they are once filled, either one of them can be removed 
and an empty one placed iu its stead. Many times, thisjnay 
be done, but in doing so you may have a large amount of 
bees within it to dispose of, and should the Queen happen to 
be there, it might be ^the means of breaking up the 
whole stock ; and, aside from that, the box may be half full 
of young bees, not yet hatched- This is the great difficulty 
that many have to encounter, where their hives are com- 
posed of two, three, or four boxes, as the case may be, where 
the bees have full access to all the boxes at once; most 
of them, if not all, contain brood most of the season, 
which has a tendency to injure the quality of the honey. 
Wherever brood is, or has been, it darkens and thickens the 
comb, and of course injures the appearance and quality of 
the honey. Bees can be induced to store their surplus 
honey in any kind of receptacle their owner sees fit to give 
them, if properly arranged. I compel my bees, many times, 
to build comb and store honey in glass tumblers, decanters, 
and the like. 

I have been somewhat amused, before now, in visiting the 
different apiaries in the country, to find the variety of hives 
that many of then make use of. I visited an apiary, not long 
since, in Clinton County, State of New York. There were 



EEE HIVES. 151 

some thirty-five or forty colonies scattered over the garden, 
and there was scarcely one hive, or box, in the whole, that 
resembled a proper bee-hive ; but they were composed prin- 
cipally of old tea chests, nail kegs, sap buckets, flour barrels, 
raisin boxes, powder kegs, &c. If those bees could have had 
proper hives to work in, and proper care bestowed upon them, 
the owner could have realized forty or fifty pounds of honey, 
from each colony,over and above their supplies for winter 
use; but, on the contrary, he will not realize ten pounds of 
spare honey to the swarm. And as a natural consequence, 
many of the hives were filled with moths and worms, which 
will ruin a swarm of bees in a short time, if they cannot be 
removed. 

" The Moths and Millers arc among the greatest troubles 
the bee-keeper has to contend with, in the use of the old style 
of hives, and many of the patent hives are no better in this re- 
spect, but some of them are even worse. I think 1 can safely 
say that in nineteen-twentieths of all hives now in use, if the 
millers once get possession of them, there is no alternative 
but to give them a dose of brimstone, and take possession of 
what little honey there is remaining in the hive, and it will 
be full of worms perhaps, at that. I frequently hear this com- 
plaint made from men who formerly kept bees, t lat they used 
to keep bees, but after two or three years the millers got into 
them and they all " kind of run out." This is all nonsense ; 
there is no more necessity of having your bees " run out,' ; 
than there is of your cattle or sheep, or anything else that is 
kept on a farm; give them a proper kind of hive, and good care 
and attention, at the time wdien they most need it, and they 
will repay you better than anything else that is kept on your 
farm ; there is no season, but with proper management, bees 
will lay up stores enough to carry them through the winter, 
and generally a large surplus. If farmers wou'd turn more 
of their attention to the culture of the honey bee, and less 



152 BEE IHVi S. 

to the cultivation of Chinese sugar cane and shanghai chick- 
ens, they would be better remunerated in the end, as honey is 
one of our great staples, and will always command a good 
price; generally it bears the price of butter, but in Boston 
and New York markets it sells much higher. The income 
of a good swarm of bees from the first of June to the first 
of October, is more than the increase of any cow that can be 
produced, if they have proper care and attention bestowed 
upon them. If any one doubts this assertion, let him call 
upon me and I will convinc him of the truth of it. ( ee pre- 
vious chapter, or Advertisement, for large amounts of honey 
made by a single swarm in one year.) 

The practical bee-keeper must be aware that unless he can 
have easy access to the interior of his hives, and can have con- 
trol of eaeh and every comb, he cannot manage his bees suc- 
cessfully for any length of time. Bees many times will do 
well ; especially young swarms for the first year, in a common 
board hive, but after they have filled it the story is told j then 
the next thing should be to remove a portion of it, and give 
them a chance to refill it ; but such an operation as this can- 
not easily be effected in a common hive. I have ascertained 
in my experience that bees will make honey near four times as 
fast, when they can always have the central portion of the 
hive to work in, as they would if compelled to work in boxes 
on the top of the hive. New honey when made in the cen- 
tral portion of the hive, is just as good as that made in boxes, 
if clear of bread. The reason why bees can make honey so 
much faster in the body part of the hive, is simply this : as 
the great mass of bees are constantly there, they keep up that 
amount of animal heat that is necessary to build comb, and 
without any extra exertion or loss of time on their part; 
whereas, if they were building in boxes, it would take a large 
number of bees to cluster there in order to generate the 
amount of heat that is required to construct combs, which is 



BEE HIVES. 153 

nearly one hundred degrees Faerenheit. Whilst the bees are 
clustered to generate an extra amount of heat, their time of 
coursg is taken up, and they cannot be in the fields gathering 
honey ; bes des, the distance the bee has to travel from the 
entrance to almost any part of the main hive, is but a few in- 
ches. I trust the bee-keeper will readily see the importance 
of having the most of his honey stored up or made in the 
main hive. 

In giving a description of my Compound Hive, I can do 
no less than speak of its many advantages in the manage- 
ment of the honey bee. If I should recommend my hive to 
be superior to everything else, and that all other hives were 
trash be^de it, the reader might take me to be of the same 
character and stripe of hundreds that have gone before me, 
and flooded the country with boxes of peculiar shape, bearing 
the name of bee hives, and which, in many insiances, have 
been more of a curse to bee culture than a source of profit. 
I have spoken of some of the disadvantages of other hives, 
and in speaking of the advantages, (if such I may be permit- 
ted to call them,) of my own hive, I hope to show the contrast, 
or, in what respect my hive differs from others; which I trust 
I shall be able to do before I get through with this chapter. 
I have constructed several styles of hives in the course of my 
Apiarian pursuits in the last few years, and it has always been 
my object to have a hive so constructed that the Apiarian 
could favor and assist the bees in their labor, in every possi- 
ble way, always bearing in mind that time, to bees, is honey, 
as well as money to their owner. How important it is, then, 
that the bees should have a good, substantial, and convenient 
hive, and proper care and attention ; wh n all these advan- 
tages are given to bees, it is better than money at one hun- 
dred per cent interest. My hiv( is so constructed that it will 
meet the general demands of the bees, either in cold or warm 
weather, or in a c Id or warm climate, as it is well ventila- 



154 BEE HIVES. 

ted and all the ventilators have shutters that can be used 
when req aired. I have two kinds of hives as well as sizes ; 
the first is a common swarming hive, whh a dead air space the 
whole size of the hive, and six or seven inches in height ; this 
dead air space I give to the use of the bees in winter • by 
doing this, the entrance of the hive can be closed entirely af- 
ter the weather becomes so cold that bees cannot fly out safe- 
ly, which is on or about the first of November ; when this is 
done they will have to be ventilated by opening one of the 
ventilators in the body part of the hive and another one in 
the dead air chamber. My other hive, which is my last im- 
provement, is a swarming or non-swarming hive, at the option 
of the Apiarian. It is made double, or a hive within a hive 
when placed in winter quarters, thus giving a dead air space 
around the entire hive. When this is done, the scientific 
man will readily perceive that an equilibrium of temperature 
can be kept up, by the ventilation thus afforded, as the animal 
heat of the bees and the weather may require. 

My small hive contains 2016 cubic inches, or near one bush- 
el by measure ; the larger one contains 2778 cubic inches, or 
nearly five pecks by measure, and both together, as a non- 
swarming hive, contains 4794 cubic inches, or nearly two and 
one-fourth bushels by measure. Th's hive is so constructed 
that it can be used as one hive, (either a swarming or non- 
swarming one,) or two single hives, if cccas ; on requires it. 
When used as anon-swanning hive, the smaller one should 
be set upon the larger one, with two additional boards of 
equal size placed between them, and a piece taken out of the 
side of each board about midway, two inches wide by eight 
inches in length, so that when the two cut edges are put to- 
gether, there will be a space four inches wide by eight inches 
long ; this space in the division board, is to give the bees ac- 
cess from one hive to the other. These boa.ds should be 
placed on the hive the same way the conb-guicles run, and 



EEE HIVES. 155 

wide enough to project over it three inches all round; and 
when the larger hive is to be used separate, then these boards 
should be reversed, so that they will cover the hive tight; and 
should the bee-keeper wish to make use of boxes, they can 
be attached on the sides, so that the bees can go from the 
hot om board into the boxes direct. Boxes come with the 
hives usually ; it takes 19 comb-guides to accommodate both 
hives, eleven in the large one and eight in the small one ; 
thirteen of them are made and fitted into the smaller one, and 
the others are cut and all ready to brad together, and pack- 
in one of the boxes with the brads, so the bee-keeper after he 
receives his hive, can brad them together in five minutes 
time. The hive when packed and ready for shipping, or 
when standing in a winter condition, is 18 by 16 inches wide, 
and 24 inches high, outside measure. The weight of a com- 
plete hive with boxes included, is nearly 55 pounds. The 
small hive, or No. 1, as I shall call it, is the common swarm- 
ing hive which I have spoken of heretofore, with the dead air 
chamber over the top of it ; this dead air space is where the 
boxes or spare honey receptacles are placed. In the winter 
all boxes should be removed from the hives. When the No. 

1 hive is separated from No. 2, it should be lifted out, as No. 

2 is a simple box with a bottom attached, of sufficient size to 
admit No. 1 when used as a winter hive. This complete hive, 
with the boxes, will hold over 200 pounds. 

A few of the advantages of this combined hive I will here 
mention : 

1st. The Apiarian can get into the interior part of the hive 
and take out one single comb or a part of one, any time he 
chooses, either summer or winter, and the bees will not re- 
sent the robbery, if the bee-keeper will follow my directions 
in approaching a swarm of bees. (See chapter on Gei eral 
Management.) 



156 BEE IllVtfS. 

2d. The great enemy of bees, the Miller Moth, cannot harm 
them, as it is very seldom they will enter one of these hives, 
and if tlmy should, the bee-keeper can easily take out a card 
or two of comb and pick them out with his fingers, and not 
get stung in the operation, as they will seldom if ever attempt 
to sting when properly managed. 

3d. The bee keeper can always tell at what time the bees 
will swarm, and if they cannot swarm, as thousands of bees 
have not this year, (1858,) he can ascertain the cause in two 
minutes time, and give them the means by which they can 
swarm if desired. 

4th. If the Apiarian wishes to put several swarms togeth- 
er, he can do it readily and safely ; every bee-keeper that lets 
them swarm naturally, will have much of this to do, if he 
wishes to winter them; it often takes four or five small swarms 
to make one that would winter safely. 

•5th. A swarm can be divided, and two or three made of it, 
if desired. (See directions in chapter on Swarming.) 

Gth. The Apiarian using this kind of hive can equalize the 
honey, as well as bee-bread, amongst his different colonies, 
should it be advisable, and also the bees, by cutting a card 
of comb from a full hive that contains young brood, and de- 
positing it in the hive that needs recruiting. When the*e 
young bees hatch, of course they are at home, and will unite 
readily with the sw r arm ; which might not be the case when a 
a parcel of strange bees were forced into a hive, especially if 
the needy swarm has a fertile Queen. Many times the bee- 
master may have certain swarms of bees that have had great- 
er facilities than some other*, and have made a surplus to 
spare, while other swarms, perhaps, have not made enough for 
their winter's u e, they being later swarms, or perhaps hav- 
ing lost their Queen; to such, this surplus honey could be 
given, and thereby save the colony. 

A bee-keeper cannot always tell by the outward appearance 



BEE HIVES. 157 

of a hive whether they have a fertile Queen wihin or not, 
but by using this hive he can ascertain it in a very few min- 
utes, and if destitute of a Queen they can be furnished with 
one from some other hive, if they have not the means them- 
selves to raise one. (See chapter on swarming and transfer.) 
When bees are seen carrying in bee-bread, it is generally al- 
lowed they have a Queen ; i; may be so and a barren one at 
that. Queens sometimes get so old before they die, that they 
are perfectly barren ; they are not to be depended upon over 
two and a half years at longest, although their age is three, 
four, and sometimes even five years. It frequently happens 
that the young Queens have not an opportunity of pairing 
with. the drones until they are twenty days old, and then it is 
too late, as they cannot be fecundated after that period. (See 
chapter on Queens.) Bees will fetch in bee-bread, and work 
upon the honey flowers occasionally, when they possess the 
virgin and barren Queens ; But if the Apiarian can get into 
the interior part of the hive, (and not be molested by the bees,) 
he can ascertain what kind of a Queen there is piesent, by 
examining the brood ; if there is very young brood, or eggs 
not yet hatched, he can rest assured there is a fertile Queen 
present ; in all good swarms there is more or less brood 
the year round ; medium, or small colonies, are some- 
times destitute of brood three months out of twelve, Decem- 
ber, January and February. But the time to ascertain about 
then Queens, is in the honey season, as that is the most con- 
venient time to remedy any disaster. By the use of this hive, 
all these troubles are entirely overcome, as well as many 
others I might name. 

I have also an improved Regulator, or Drone Killer, at- 
tached to the entrance of the hive, which can be used four or 
five different ways ; first, it is fastened to the hive by means 
of a thumb-screw, which can be turned as occasion requires ; 
the instrument is made to slide on the bottom board an inch 
N 



158 BEE HIVES. 

and a half or two inches, thus contracting the entrance from 
two inches to one fourth of an inch, if desired, as in the case 
of robbers, when the entrance should be contracted immedi- 
ately after it is discovered ; sometimes the entrance should 
be closed altogether. (See chapter on robbery?) When the 
instrument is raised to the height of three-sixteenths of an 
inch and fastened there, the spa-e will allow the worker bees 
to pass in and outfreely, but the drones cannot pass it, nor the 
Queen, they bdng much larger bees. If the Apiarian should 
be troubled with drones and wishes to dispose of them, let 
him, in the middle of a fair day, set this instrument to the 
lower guage, and fasten it there, as at that time the majority 
of the drones are out of the hive, and soaring in the air for a 
pleasure excursion and to meet the young Queens ; let the in- 
strument remain in that position until night, then if the work- 
er bees are all in the hive, scrape the drones off into hot wa- 
ter, and give them to the chickens; then place the instrument 
up to the highest guage until the next warm day • in attend- 
ing to this for two or three times, the drones will be totally 
destroyed ; in setting this instrument to the lower guage 
just after hiving a new swarm, it will prevent the Queen from 
leaving the hive in case the bees wish to leave for the woods, 
as they very frequently do after being hived, and sometimes 
when they have been hived for several days ; the bees cannot 
run away unless the Queen can leave with them ; if they fly 
out with that anticipation they will all return to the hive^again 
as soon as tin y find the Queen is not with them. The Apia- 
rian can prevent his bees from swarming, by putting the in- 
strument to this guage upon the hive to be operated upon ; 
when this is done, the bees should be accommodated with a 
plenty of room for their operations. 

I also have another instrument which I have lately inven- 
ted, that I can attach to a hive or box, and expel all the bees 
from it, or, I can reverse the instrument, and retain all the 



BEE HIVES. 159 

bees that enter the hive or box. With this instrument I can 
secure a swarm of bees from a tree, if I can obtain one single 
bee, and in less than three clays I can force them logo to the 
tree and rob their own nest, of honey, and deposit it in my 
hive. This assertion, perhaps, my readers will very much 
doubt, brat I trust the time is not far distant when I shall be 
able to give them a demonstration of it in public. This in- 
strument is entirely separate from my hive, although it can 
be attached to it, or any other hive, after the entrai ce is made 
to fit it. 

I have also invented a revolving platform, so constructed 
as to give the entrance of the hive on any point I choose, 
east, wosi, north or routli. It is very essential many times 
to change the entrance with the seasons. I also have a pro- 
cess attached to it whereby I can weigh a colony of b es at 
any time in two minutes, and ascertain ju-t how fast they 
make honey, whether it is one pound a day 7 or IS. This in- 
strument and stand will be introduced to the public in a short 
time. 



r- 





160 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF CEE3. 



CHAPTER XVII- 
General Management of Bees. 

Od the subject of bee management, much could be said 
that, perhaps, would interest the majority of bee-keepers, 
I fear that I shall displease some of my Apiarian 
friends by my plainness of speech, in the course of this chap- 
ter, yet I will endeavor to speak nothing but the truth. In 
the course of my apiarian studies, I have seen so much mis- 
management and carelessness practiced, seemingly by men of 
good sense, that I have wondered before now that bees would 
live with them at all. Keeping bees, as many do, in little 
Barrow, contracted hive?, sap buckets, or something of that 
sort, arid then perhaps attempting to winter them in that de- 
plorable condition, sometimes a portion of them being with- 
out a Queen, and others not containing more than a quart of 
bees, and to crown the whole, perhaps allowing them to stand 
out of doors, it is no wonder their owners, as a natural conse- 
quence, have the consolation of knowing, long before Spring, 
that they have more dead bees than living ones, in all such 
hives. And the idea of putting bees into winter quarters 
sometime in the Fall, and not going near them again till the 
next spring, and then, perhaps, finding half of them, and 
sometimes nearly all, dead ! If a man in this enlightened 
age of the world, will be so imprudent and careless, he de- 
serves no pity if he looses all his bees. What would we 
think of a man, a keeper of sheep, for instance, if he put a 
hundred sheep into an enclosure, and perhaps makes a cal- 
culation about what amount of hay usually keeps that num- 
ber of sheep. Supposing he put that amount of hay into the 
enclosure with the sheep, and tells them to help themselves. 



GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF BEES. lGl 

Let the kind shepherd keep away from his flock until the 
coming Spring. Would not such a man as that be called a 
fool by a sensible community ] The probability is that there 
would be more dead sheep than living ones, in the Spring, 
One is about as absurd as the other. If a man wishes to 
keep bees, let him take proper care of them, as he would of 
cattle or sheep, if he wishes to be profited by them. Bees 
require but little care during the winter, if properly put into 
winter quarters. Many times nearly one-half, and frequent- 
ly over that number, of bees put into winter quarte:s, perish 
before Spring, and many of them having plenty of honey. 
The honest bee-keeper, of course, wonders what killed them. 
This is easily explained. In the first place, a man may at- 
tempt to winter a small swarm of bees in a large hive, where 
they i-annot keep up their animal heat. At other times, the 
bee-keeper may give his bees only one entrance to the hive, 
and that, perhaps, at the bottom. This one thing alone will 
kill bees in nine cases out often, for this reason: in cold 
weather, the breath of bees becomes frost, the same as that 
of a person, and, unless the hive is ventilated at thetop.frost 
will accumulate in the top of the hive to the depth of sev- 
eral inches. Sometimes it drives the bees into the lower 
part of the hive, away from their provisions ; and, should 
that not kill them, as soon as the weather becomes warmer 
this frost melts to- water, and runs down upon the bees and 
combs, there becoming ice, stops up the entrance, and the 
bees are smothered, for want of air, in less than twenty-four 
hours after. One great secret in keeping bees, is to keep the 
stocks strong. Fill the hive with bees as full as it will con- 
tain, and they can resist frost or anything else, if they have 
plenty of air. Their animal heat must be ke t t up ; if not, 
they are gone. There must be a temperature of 60 or 70 
degrees Fahrenheit, or they will perish ; and they cannot 
breed unless it is much higher than that. 
*n 



162 GENERAL MANGEMENT OF BEES- 

Some bee-keepers put their bees in the cellar, which is 
about as bad a place as they could be put in. There is not 
one cellar in twenty that is dry enough to keep bees in, The 
dampness molds and blackens the combs, and many times 
the bees get diseased in consequence. Many of them die, 
and sometimes whole colonies are thus destroyed. Bees 
should be kept in winter in a dry, cool, still, dark place. A 
dark bedroom, in a quiet part of the house, would be the 
most appropriate place for the welfare of the bees- When 
they are kept in such a place as that, their master has an 
opportunity of looking into each and every hive, every two 
weeks at least, to see that they are not dying off rapidly, 
that they have plenty of honey, and can get at it. Many 
times bees have plenty of honey in the hive, and starve io 
death, notwithstanning. In the winter of 1857-8, there 
were many bees lost, and plenty of honey in the hive. In 
cold weather bees usually cluster very close together, gen- 
erally near the middle portion of the hive. Should there be 
brood, they will not leave it after they have eaten away the 
honey in the vicinity of the brood, if there is not an easy ac- 
cess through the combs, from one to another. They will 
starve before they will venture from the cluster to go round 
the combs to their stores, as they are not all disposed to go 
at once. They will never leave their brood for honey, unless 
it is close at hand. I hope every person using the Com- 
pound hive will bear in mind to cut a hole thn ugh the mid- 
dle portion of the card, near an inch in diameter, and within 
three inches of the top. Have the holes as near in range as 
possible. Serve every comb in this manner in October or 
November, and when there is a good swarm in the hive, and 
plenty of honey, I will ensure them to winter, either out of 
doors or in the house. A pocket knife is a good instrument 
to cut the holes with. Bees kept in the house through the 
winter, with care and attention, will be much more likely to 



GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF BEES. 163 

winter through, than if they remained out of doors. Then 
the bee-master can watch them, and see that they do not 
want. And they will commence breeding much earlier, and 
throw off larger swarms in the spring, when kept in the 
house. They may consume a little more honey, but that is 
but a trifle, compared with the advantages that are 
gained by so doing. A good swarm of bees in early spiing 
are of much more value than a few pounds of honey ; al- 
though bees will winter in my double hive out of doors, if the 
ventilator is opened in the top part and closed below. 

As regards bee-houses, I prefer a tree in the garden to 
any bee house. A bee house, if properly constructed, will 
answer to shelter hives against the inclemency of the weath- 
er. The protection of the hives, if they were nice ones^ 
would be the principal thing in having a house, especially in 
the summer season. 

The way to aprpoach a swarm of bees, after ,they are 
once established in the compound hive, whether they were 
hived after swarming, or transferred from some other hive, 
is all the same. The bee-keeper should approach the hive 
slowly and fearlessly ; open it gently by taking the cover or 
top off. Set it upon the ground or floor ; if the boxes be 
upon the hive, remove them as easily as possible ; then, with 
the help of a knife, pry up the honey boards cautiously, first 
giving them a few spoonfuls of sweetened water through the 
holes of the boards, before removing them. The bee-keper 
should go to his hive furnished with a bowl of sweetened 
water, a half pint of water to four or five tablespoonfuls of 
whiie sugar or honey. When the honey boards are removed 
sprinkle them cautiously by pouring the liquid over them 
with a spoon. The bees, after receiving a treat of this kind> 
become perfectly docile and tame. Ihey eat it with a great 
relish. Whilst the bees are partaking of the liquid sweets, 
their master can take out any of the guides or combs, and 



164 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF BEES. 

perform any ope rati Dn he chooses with the greatest ease. 
After the bee-keeper has f< v d and handled his bees a few 
times in this way, he can approach them afterwards without 
the sweetened water. The best time to open a hive, especial- 
ly in the summer season, is early in the morning, before 
many of the bees leave the hive. Handling bees in the 
middle of a warm day should be avoided, as much as pos- 
sible. When the bee-master is amongst his bees, he should 
be free from all dirt, or perspiration, as all impurities have 
a tendency to make bees cross- 

The bee hive should always occupy such a position in the 
garden or bee house, that it can be opened at any time. When 
the Apiarian is pe. forming with, or handling his bees, it 
should be done as hastily as possible, (especially if there are 
other colonies near by,) so that the neighboring bees will not 
be tempted to rob, and also in cold weather, that the bees 
or brood may not get chilled while the hive is open. If the 
bee-keeper should be afraid to go to his bees, it would be well 
enough to use a Protector ; when comb or honey is to be re- 
moved from the interior part of the hive, let him by means of 
a pocket knife loosen three or four of the comb guides, so one 
can be removed if desired; if the combs are fastened togeth- 
er or attached to tin- hive, then they should be loosened by 
the use of a honey knife ; (a carving knife will answer as 
well,) the honey boards should be scraped if the bees attach 
any comb or propolis to them, and when placed upon the hive 
should be turned over, as the heat of the swarm may warp 
them somewmat. 

The bee-master should save all the pieces of comb that 
are white, so that when small. boxes or tumblers are introduc- 
ed to the hive, the small bits of comb can be put ir.to them, 
and by means of melted wax can be made to adhere to the 
tumbler or box. and the bees will build to the size of the re 



(JEAERAL MANACJEiVlKXT OV BEES. 



1M 



ceptacle, when placed over tlie hive. The Apiarian should 
examine his bees in the month of August, and ascertain 
whether there U a fertile Queen present ; should any of the 
hives be without one, they should be furnished with. the means 
to rear another, which can be readily done at that season of 
the year. (See chapter on loss of Queen.) 

Brimstone. Thousands of bees every year are consigned 
to the sulphur pit ; if bee-keepers did but know what a bar- 
barous practice this i^, I think they would abandon it. Let 
m reason for a moment. What should we think oT a man 
who should give his cow a dose of brimstone to get a little 
milk, or to his hens to get a few eggs ? yet millions of indus- 
trious honey bees are thus destroyed every season for the 
sake of a few pounds of sulphur-scented honey. If the bees 
have been profitable to us one season, why not let them be so 
the next ? It takes only a few pounds of honey to winter a 
swarm, usually about a pound of honey to a thousand bees, 
when having proper accommodations. 




The TIappij family, pat/ivg their respects to their Queen, 



16G ROBBEBV OF BEES, 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



ROBBERY OF BEES. 



Practical bee-keepers ar^ well aware cf tin's propensity in 
bees : they are prone to rob at every chance that presents it- 
self, but not usually in honey weather. Bee-keepers should 
always be on the look out in early spiing and fall, for bee 
robbers, and should guard against it ly contracting the en- 
trance of the hive to near half an inch ; if this is done in due 
time, all robbing will be prevented, unless it should be a col- 
ony that have lost their Queen. Should the bee master dis- 
cover that his bees had commenced robbing, or that they were 
being robbed, let him watch for a few moments the entrances 
of the other hives, and if any of them are seen to enter with 
the flour on their backs, then it is proof positive that his bees 
are robbing one another, and the entrances to both hives 
should be contracted at once to one-fourth of an inch, and 
frequently it will be. neressary to close the entrance altogeth- 
er for that day. The next day give them one half inch at the 
entrance ; if the entrance be closed the first day, it should be 
opened just at night to allow the robbers a chance to go home; 
then the hese'g^d hive should be scented thoroughly with 
some kind of aromatic oil or essence, and the robbers will 
not trouble it the following d.y. It is sometimes very diffi- 
cult for an inexperienced person to ascertain whether the hon- 
ey is going into the hive or out of it, and whether it is his 
neighbors bees or his own, that are engaged in it ; under 
these circumstances let the bcje-uiaster sprinkle a little flour 
over the bees that enter and depart from the hive. I have 
spoken of robbery in another chapter. 



ROBBERY OF BEKS. 167 

The way to ascertain whether Honey is going into the hive 
or out of ft. Let the b. e-master catch a worker as >he pass- 
es into the hive, pull her in two pieces, and ascertain wheth- 
er she is loaded with honey ; if so. the swarm are robbing ; 
to make the proof stronger, catch a bee on coming out of the 
hive, and if her honey sack is not filled, then it is positive that 
the honey is going into the hive, but' should it be the reverse, 
then of course, the honey is passing out of the hive. 

Anger of. Bees. I have already treated of the disposition 
of bees to use their slings when irritated, either by direct in- 
terference with them, or by the approach of persons to whom 
they have an antipathy. The smart quick strokes of the 
wings, when they are angry and prepared to sting, give a 
sound very different from their usual buzz. " Instead," says 
Mr. Hunter, " of that soft contented noise made by a bee com- 
ing home loaded on a fine evening, whenever she meditates 
an attack with her sting, she makes a very different one ;" 
there is a piercing shrillness in the sound, as the author and 
some of his friends have often experienced. 

The irascibility of hive bees, has teen noticed in strong 
terms by Virgil ; " when once provoked," says he, " they set 
no bounds to their anger, but, 

Deem life itself to vengeance well resigned, 

Die on the wound and leave their stings behind." 




RECEIPTS. 



172 



Mead. Some persons may feel desirous of making for 
themselves this once famous drink. I will attempt to furnish 
them with simple directions for so doing : Common Mead is 
formed by mixing two parts of water to one of honey, and 
boiling them together and taking off the scum. 

Fermented Mead, or Metlieglin, is formed of three parts of 
water to one of honey, boiled as before, and skimmed and casked. 
The cask is to be left with the bung out and exposed to the sun, 
or in a warm room, until it ceases to work. The bung should 
then be replaced and in about three months it is fit for use. 
The addition of a fermenter is of course necessary, taking 
care that it be sound, good and sweet. Hops are an improve- 
ment to Mead, as it takes from its sweetness ; also, chop- 
ped raisins boiled with it at the rate of six pounds of honey to 
each half pound of raisins, also, a few bits of lemon peel, and 
a few glasses of brandy will improve it very much. 

Artificial Honey, which can hardly be distinguish from the 
pure article, is made as follows : Take of soft water six 
pounds, best moist brown sugar 20 pounds, pure bees honey 
3 pounds, cream of tartar 80 grains, essence of roses 20 
drops ; mix in a brass kettle, boil five minutes and then take 
it off and add the white of two eggs well beaten ; when al- 
most cold add two pounds more of pure honey. A decoction 
of slipperry elm bark, or the mucilage of gum Arabic, will im- 
prove the honey if added while cooling ; sometimes starch is 
used instead of the bark or gum, and is very good. 

Letters on business must be addressed to K. P. KIDDER, 
Burlington Vt. 






Queen. 



Worker. 



173 



BEE-COMB. 




FIGURE 8. 

Represents the different kinds of combs of a hive, also 
showing the contents of which the combs is filled : 

k Represents the cells all filled with honey sealed ; and, 
h represents Brood in the different stages of transformation, 
from the egg to the perfect bee ; f represents drone cells 
empty ; g shows the cells to be full of brood ; e represents a 
royal cell just started; c shows where the Queen has just 
emerged ; d shows a sealed Queen not yet hatched ; a shows 
where the bees have nearly demolished a Qusen cell ; b shows 
where the. Queen has met with a violent death. The dark 
part of the comb shows where it is filled with bee-bread. 



INDEX OF CHAPTERS. 



I. Anatomy of the bee, 

II. The sources of bees, 

III. Impregnation of Queen, 

IV. Architecture of bees, 
V Brood of the bees, 

VI. Honey pasturage, 

VII. Honey Dews, 

VIII. Bees Wax, 

IX. Farina or Pollen, 



-0,9- 



PAGE- 

25 

35 

57 

73 

86 

97 

114 

120 

125 



PAGK. 

X. Propolis or Bee Glue, 128 

XI. Drone or male bee, 130 

XII. Breeding of bees, 132 

XIII. Swarming of bees, 136 

XIV. Transfer of bees, 141 

XV. Removal of bees, 145 

XVI. Beehives, 147 

XVII. General management of bees, 160 

XVIII. Robbery of bees, 166 



INDEX. 



OO- 
PAGE. 

Architecture of Bees, '3 

Analomical view of 57 

Aphides, cause of the Honey- 
Dews, 114 
Animal heat of Bees, 161 
Anger of Bees explained, 167 
Artificial Honey, recipe for, in 

the latter part of the book. 
Bees, Senses of, 34 

•' sight of, 34 

" feeling or touch 35 

» Taste, 37 

" visit barn-yards, (not for 

honey) 38 

1 ' feed upon poisonous flow- 
ers, onions, &c, 38 
'* hearing-, 39 
,s prevented from running 

away when swarming. 40 
" smelling explained, 42 

" scent honey a long dis- 
tance, 44 
" will attack a person out 

of health, 45 

" (workers) affection for 

their Queen, 48 

" bereavement of, when 

Queen is killed. 67 

" understand the rules of 

geometry, 79 

" Brood, " 86 

*' build their combs, 86 

" visit flowers, 106 

Bee-keeping, 113 

Bees, fill their hives. 113 

Bee Bread, substitute for, 127 

Bees, when to be fed and how, 133 

'■• Protectors for, and how 

worn, 140 

" never should be removed 
from their old stand in 
the working season, 142 
" Hiving of, 142 

11 Removal of, 145 

" the reason why they will 
not work in boxes at all 
times, 148 

*' time it takes to enter the 
boxes after entering the 
hive, 149 

41 never run out, 151 



Bees, more profitable than cows 152 
" where kept through the 

Winter, 162 

Bee-houses, not essential 163 

Bees, how to approach them, 163 
" Handling of, 164 

•* when examined, 165 

Brimstone, 165 

Comb, how and when built in 

different directions, 74-75 

Comb, depth and diameter of, 79 

" should all be saved, 164 

" see cut and description of 173 

Cause of bees dying in winter, 161 

Cells, how constructed, 80 

Drones, description of, 33 

" functions of, 54 

" massacre of, and how 

effected, 55 

Drones, life spared Queen is lost, 56 

" when they leave the hive, 54 

" for Queen's impregnation 60 

" Eggs, hatching of 96 

" how destroyed, 158 

Farina, pollen, or bee-bread, 

description of, 125 

Farina, large quantities in old 

hives, 126 

Feeding bees explained, 1 32 

Frost kills bees, how prevented, 161 
General management of bees, 160 
Humming sound, how produced 29 
Honey pasturage, 97 

«' large amount in one year 98 
" undergoes no change in 
the stomach of the bee, 100 

Honey from poisonous flowers, 102 
«* very nutricious, 103 

" one of the first sweets we 
have knowledge of, (see An- 
cient History,) 103 
Honey, great tonic in sickness, 103 
" great article of traffic 
among all nations, 1 04 
Honey better in colder climates, 104 
*« eating while new, 104 
" poisonous in warm cli- 
mates, 105 
Honey collected from the same 

flower many times, 114 

Honey-boxes, how used, 148 



175 



INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Honey Dews, cause of, 114 

" made fastest in the main 
hive, 150 

Honey, how to ascertain when 
going into, or out of the hive, 
case of robbery, 167 

Honey, artificial, recipe for ma- 
king, latter part of book. 

Hunting bees, the latest im- 
provement, 109 

Hives, discussed and explained 147 
" variety of, as seen in the 
State of New York, 150 

Hives composed of a series of 
boxes bad to manage, 150 

Keeping bees in small hives, 
consequences of, 160 

Keeping bees in Winter, 160 

" (e in the cellar, folly 

of 162 

Language of bees explained, 111 

Memory of bees, 74 

Moraldie's hive, a snail crept 
into, 130 

Mild winter injurious to bees, 138 

Metheglin, Mead, recipe for, 
in latter part of book. 

On the different substances 
found in a bee hive, 97 

Over-stocking a country, (im- 
probable) 113 

Over-stocking a hive with bee- 
bread, 126 

Pasturage for bees, (Dutch clo- 
ver, &c.,) 102 

Pollen, or bee-bread, descrip- 
tion of, ' 125 

Proboscis of Bees described. 27 

Propolis, (bee-glue) description 
of, 128-50 

Queen, description of, 32 

." functions of, 46 

" deposits eggs, how done, 47 
" aversion to each other, 49 
" age of, 54 

" eggs all hatch drones. 56 

" impregnation of, 57 

" when she leaves the hive, 58 
" made from Worker larvae 61 
" how supplied when lost, 65 
" piping of, explained, 67 

" ovaries, (see cut) 71 

" cell, description of, 81 

" deposits a large number 
eggs, 87 



Queen, description of, by Schi- 
rach, 87 

Queen, transformation of, 95 

" respected and fed by 
, Workers, 108 

Queen, how kept in a hive, 140 
" deposits eggs in boxes, 149 
" when present how known, 157 
65 prevented from running 
away, 158 

Regulator, or drone-killer, how 
used, 157 

Robbing, cause of, and how 
remedied, 166 

Sting, description of, 31 

Swarming, how brought about 
early, 135 

Swarming of bees, how promo- 
ted and prevented, 137 

Swarming, irregularity and 
cause of, 137 

Swarming, signs of, 136 

" prevented by controlling 
the Queen, 139 

Swarming should be allowed, 139 
" artificially, when desired, 139 

Swarms, uniting of, 144 

" size of, see last page of 
cover. 

Secret of keeping bees success- 
fully, 161 

Sting of bees, remedy for, see 
last page of cover. 

Transfer of bees, 

Value of beeb, in the Fall, is in 
the honey, in the Spring, in 
the amt. of bees, 

Wax, elaboration of, (by Bon- 
ner) 30-122 

Wax, of different kinds, 120 

" how to tell a good article, 124 
** an article of commerce, 
' 5 how made, 

Water and salt given to bees, 

Weighing a swarm of bees, 

Wintering bees in a compound 
hive, 

Wintering bees by boring the 
combs. 

Worker bee, functions of, 
'" lays eggs, 
" anatomical view of, 
" transformation of 
" time eggs hatch, 
Cf imperfect organization of, 



141 



m 



124 
124 
135 
159 

162 

162 
49 

53 
57 
91 
96 
52 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



